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In the past, it was a courtesy to provide transition offices and resources to outgoing Defense Secretaries.
“Given Mr. Miller’s acting ability in this role, as well as the reduction in staffing and occupancy of the Pentagon and sub-offices during Covid-19, we have found it appropriate not to extend this benefit into this case, ”the official said. Miller was appointed acting secretary on November 9.
CNN has asked the Department of Defense for comment.
The admission – in a press fight Thursday upon returning from a trip to Nebraska, Tennessee, and Colorado – came as the Pentagon said at least 25,000 National Guardsmen were mobilized in Washington, DC , amid security concerns around this week’s inauguration following the deadly riot on the U.S. Capitol.
Tensions between Biden’s transition and Trump’s political appointments to the Pentagon simmered for weeks, peaking at the end of December when the transition team challenged the suggestions of Pentagon officials who rescinded question the accuracy of the President-elect’s assertion that the Defense Ministry refused to do so. informs his team of the massive cyberattack on government agencies and major US tech and accounting firms. Anonymous Pentagon officials basically accused Biden of lying while discussing the attack with reporters and said the Defense Department “won’t even tell us, about a lot.”
Earlier that month, Biden’s transition team said it had not agreed to a two-week break from critical transfer of power talks with Pentagon officials, despite a claim from the Acting Defense Secretary that both sides agreed to take such a “vacation. break.” Tensions spread in public view after Miller said Biden’s incoming team agreed to take a two-week vacation from previously scheduled transition negotiations at the Pentagon.
The strained relationship between inbound and outbound administrations has seen several controversial last-minute moves.
The National Security Agency said on Sunday it was installing Michael Ellis, a member of Trump’s National Security Council staff, as general counsel after Miller ordered NSA director Gen. Paul Nakasone to place the Trump loyalist in this role. The move matters because the role of legal adviser to the nation’s largest intelligence agency is a public office, not a political one, which means it could be difficult for the Biden administration to remove Ellis. The strategy of trying to install political loyalists into career positions is known as the “dig” in government.
Miller’s appointment preceded a post-election purge that saw some of the Defense Department’s top civilians ousted within days, including leaders of the Defeat-ISIS task force, senior Pentagon officials overseeing the policy and intelligence, and the Under Secretary of Defense Intelligence, among others. The posts were quickly filled by individuals perceived to be Trump loyalists.
CNN’s Oren Liebermann, Jeff Zeleny, Sarah Mucha, Jeremy Herb and Zachary Cohen contributed to this report.
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