The US Senate has confirmed General Dan Kaine as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a move President Donald Trump brought back from retirement for.
This is reported by The Washington Post.
Dan Kane replaced General Charles Brown Jr., who was fired in late February along with the Chief of Naval Operations and the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Air Force.
To head the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Kaine had to return to service and be promoted to general. The law requires that officers who were previously vice chairmen of the Committee, the head of one of the branches of the military, or the head of a major joint command be appointed to the position. However, the president has the authority to make an exception for such an appointment if it is important to the country.
Donald Trump and his Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have purged senior military officials in their first months in office. Trumpʼs critics say he wants to put his own people in key government positions that were previously considered independent of politics, part of his strategy of control.
General Kaine, whom Trump nominated to be chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, acknowledged that he was an unusual candidate, but explained this by saying that these are "unusual times".
Kaineʼs appointment also attracted increased attention because Trump once said that he had met Kaine in Iraq and that he was wearing a cap with the slogan "Make America Great Again". Kaine denied this at the hearing and said that he had never worn political symbols.
- Kane retired from the Air Force as a lieutenant general in January. He served as a fighter pilot and special operations officer, among other things. In his last position, he was deputy director for military affairs at the CIA, where he worked with intelligence leadership.
- The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is the top military advisor to the President, the Secretary of Defense, and the National Security Council. He coordinates the actions of all branches of the military, provides military advice to the countryʼs leadership, and plays a key role in strategic planning and defense decision-making.
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