Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) on Monday slammed the Pentagon’s new chief of staff, Derek Cholette, as “totally unqualified” and called on Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to “reconsider” his nomination for the Pentagon’s third-ranking job.
Austin named Cholette, currently a senior adviser at the State Department, as the new Pentagon chief of staff early Monday, replacing the retiring Kelly Magsamen.
“He is completely unqualified for this role,” House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman McCaul said in a statement. First published in Politico.
“Given the many national security threats facing our nation, the Department of Defense needs real leadership, and Derek Cholette is not the right person to provide it,” he continued. “I urge the Secretary to reconsider this move.”
The Chairman cited the Committee’s investigation into the 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan, on which Mr. Chollett testified.
“His lack of candor in the interviews transcribed by my committee and his thoughtless public comments about his work at the State Department clearly demonstrate that he is not a serious person and cannot be trusted,” McCaul said.
Chollett was nominated last year to be undersecretary for defense policy, but the nomination stalled for months over Republican opposition, and there have been no votes to advance his nomination since his first hearing in September, which was marked by tough questioning by skeptical Republicans.
Cabinet members praised the work of Cholette, whose transfer to the Pentagon was announced early Monday.
“He is one of the most distinguished, visionary and talented national security professionals of his generation, and I am grateful that he has accepted this important role at such a critical time,” Austin said in a statement.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Shoreh had provided “wise counsel and a steady hand” in diplomatic leadership over the past nine months since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel and the subsequent war in Gaza.
