Topline Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is purging all of the Pentagon’s advisory boards, he announced this week, firing dozens of unpaid advisors and derailing former President Donald Trump’s controversial attempts late last year to give board seats to his political allies. Lloyd Austin testifies before the Senate Armed Services Committee during his conformation hearing to … [+] be Secretary of Defense on Jan. 19. Getty Images Key Facts Austin is asking every member of the Department of Defense’s more than 40 advisory committees—which offer outside advice on topics like policy, technology and business—to step down in the next two weeks, Press Secretary John Kirby said Tuesday. DOD is launching a review of all advisory boards that weren’t set up by Congress, and Austin could order some boards to be reorganized or eliminated altogether, Kirby said (Austin’s decision was first reported by the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday). Kirby says this sweeping action was driven partly by the Trump administration’s decision to abruptly fire scores of board members late last year and replace them with political loyalists like former campaign chief Corey Lewandowski, Republican operative David Bossie, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and retired Army officer Anthony Tata. Last week, the Pentagon prevented some of those Trump appointees from being seated on advisory boards by halting their onboarding process. Crucial Quote “The fre… Click below to read the full story from Forbes
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