Trump national security adviser will face Senate vote
February 21, 2017
(Photo Credit: Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON — The president’s national security adviser doesn’t usually
need Senate confirmation, but for President Trump’s pick, Lt. Gen. H.R.
McMaster, it will be different.
That’s because the Senate has a unique role in the confirmation of the
military's most senior officials. For McMaster, a senior flag officer,
to keep his rank and change jobs, the law requires the Senate to
reconfirm him.
Amid an already drawn-out Cabinet confirmation process, the upper
chamber will have yet another crack at the Trump administration.
"General McMaster does not require Senate confirmation to serve as National Security Adviser," a Senate Armed Services Committee aide confirmed in a statement to Defense News. "However, if it is the president’s desire that General McMaster serve as National Security Adviser while in his current grade of lieutenant general, the law requires that General McMaster would have to be reappointed by the president and reconfirmed by the Senate in that grade for his new position."
"General McMaster does not require Senate confirmation to serve as National Security Adviser," a Senate Armed Services Committee aide confirmed in a statement to Defense News. "However, if it is the president’s desire that General McMaster serve as National Security Adviser while in his current grade of lieutenant general, the law requires that General McMaster would have to be reappointed by the president and reconfirmed by the Senate in that grade for his new position."
A Senate Armed Services Committee confirmation hearing is unlikely, but
McMaster would be asked to agree to testify in the future because of
his rank, Arnold Punaro, a retired Marine general and former SASC staff
director, said Tuesday. Such testimony could spotlight policy splits
between the outspoken general and the unorthodox president.
“All three- and four-stars have to agree to give their ‘personal’
views, if asked, even if they differ from the administration in power.
They have to agree to testify—when typically the national security
advisor hardly ever testifies, and they always decline when pushed,”
Punaro said.
McMaster was director of the Army Capabilities Integration Center and
the head of the "futures" center at Training and Doctrine
Command. He earned a reputation for outspokenness with his 1997 book,
“Dereliction of Duty,” which questioned political and military
leadership during Vietnam, and in 2014 made Time Magazine's "100 most
influential" list.
Trump fired his previous national security adviser, retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, a week ago, after revelations that he had misled Vice President Mike Pence about discussing sanctions with Russia's ambassador to the US during the presidential transition. Trump said in a news conference Thursday he did not believe Flynn had done anything illegal.
Retired Vice Adm. Robert Harward turned down the job earlier this month. Politico reported that Harward wanted commitments the National Security Council would be fully in charge of security matters, not Trump's political advisers. And he wanted to be able to select his own staff.
Trump fired his previous national security adviser, retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, a week ago, after revelations that he had misled Vice President Mike Pence about discussing sanctions with Russia's ambassador to the US during the presidential transition. Trump said in a news conference Thursday he did not believe Flynn had done anything illegal.
Retired Vice Adm. Robert Harward turned down the job earlier this month. Politico reported that Harward wanted commitments the National Security Council would be fully in charge of security matters, not Trump's political advisers. And he wanted to be able to select his own staff.
On Tuesday, White House spokesman Sean Spicer characterized those reports as "rumors" and said they were "100 percent false," as Harward declined due to family and financial concerns. McMaster, Spicer said, has "full authority to structure the office to his desires."
Spicer said McMaster will "stay on active duty," and that he "would not require Senate confirmation," but did not offer comment on the process beyond that.
Military officers above two-star are appointed to their jobs by the
president, and confirmed by the Senate. US Code Title 10, Section 601,
requires the officer to be reconfirmed by the Senate in that grade for a
new position within 60 days—or they will revert to a two-star.
There are two scenarios in which McMaster would not need to seek Senate
confirmation. He could choose to serve as a two-star major general or
retire from the military and serve as a civilian.
For McMaster to remain on active duty, as previous national security
advisor Colin Powell did, the SASC will have to act first. It
must report the nomination to the Senate, and from there, it will go on
the executive calendar.
Senate Armed Services Chairman John McCain, R-Ariz., is likely to
fast-track confirmation, as he and most in the national security
establishment believe that McMaster is a major positive addition to the
Trump team. McCain gave Trump “great credit” for the pick, saying, “I
could not imagine a better, more capable national security team than the
one we have right now.”
In 1987, before Powell took the job, then-Senate Armed Services
Chairman Sam Nunn, D-Ga., and then-Ranking Member John Warner, R-Va.,
voiced reservations on the Senate floor about a military officer taking
the job. Nunn questioned whether Powell would face a conflict between
his responsibilities to the president and his dependence on the defense
secretary for promotion.
At the time, the committee investigating the Iran-Contra affair
recommended against an active-duty officer serving in the job. Still
Powell was approved unanimously.
For McMaster, "I would hope like Powell it would be unanimous and I would expect that it should be," Punaro said.
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