WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is nominating General Charles Q. Brown Jr. as the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a senior administration official said, seeking to elevate the Air Force chief to become the nation’s most senior military officer.
Brown, known as “C.Q.,” would replace General Mark Milley, the current chief, if confirmed by the Senate. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin recommended Brown for the position, and Biden was pleased to approve it, the senior administration official said. Biden sees in Brown a wealth of military experience shaped in both peacetime and war – a leader who understands the strategic challenges the United States faces around the world, the official said.
Brown would be the second Black person to serve as chairman of the Joint Chiefs — he’s already the first to lead a military branch as head of the Air Force — and his nomination comes as the U.S. approaches the 75th Anniversary of President Harry Truman’s executive order to desegregate the military. Confirmation would mean that — along with Austin— the top two Pentagon leadership posts would be held by Black men for the first time in American history.
But Brown’s path to confirmation could be a difficult one. Senator Tommy Tuberville, an Alabama Republican, is currently using Senate rules to delay promotions for hundreds of Defense Department leaders in protest of the Pentagon’s announcement that it would pay for service members to travel to obtain abortions following the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
Senate Democrats could circumvent Tuberville’s effort, but doing so would burn valuable floor time and require extra procedural votes. Earlier Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Tuberville was “risking our military readiness by depriving armed forces of leadership and harming military families.”
Brown has played an integral role in the White House’s efforts to arm Ukraine, and his nomination comes just days after Biden announced that allies would train Ukrainian pilots on the F-16 – the fighter jet that Brown pilots. As military competition with China has escalated, Brown also has also overseen development of the new B-21 stealth bomber and has pressed for modernization of the U.S. nuclear arsenal.
Brown, known as a measured speaker, previously served as commander of Pacific Air Forces, and would probably play a significant role in assisting Biden as he develops his strategy for countering China in the Indo-Pacific. Competition with Beijing – especially in the air – has intensified in recent years, with China debuting new hypersonic missiles and a new nuclear bomber.
Brown edged out Marine Corps Commandant David Berger – who is known as an innovative but polarizing leader – for the post.
But Brown hasn’t entirely shied away from controversy, including in 2016 dismissing a call from Senator Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican then seeking the party’s presidential nomination, to carpet-bomb Islamic State targets.
After the killing of George Floyd – and just days ahead of Brown’s confirmation hearing in the Senate – the general released a video in which he spoke about how the nation’s history of racial injustices, and his own experiences, “didn’t always sing of liberty and equality.”
-------
(With assistance from Tony Capaccio.)
