Slotkin: National security officials should not be ‘guided by politics

(WASHINGTON) — Sen.-elect Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., expressed concern Sunday that some of President-elect Donald Trump’s selections of national security Cabinet positions could be beholden to his political preferences rather than an objective interpreting of intelligence.

Slotkin, a current U.S. representative and former CIA officer and Pentagon official, told “This Week” co-anchor Martha Raddatz that selections like Fox News host Pete Hegseth for Defense secretary and former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard to head national intelligence should tell Trump precisely what they’re seeing in the world rather than what they think the incoming president “wants to hear.”

“I just need to know that the people who are in these jobs are not going to be guided by politics and what someone tells them they think they should be seeing in the intelligence or in the defense picture, but what is actually the truth on the ground,” Slotkin said.

“Speaking truth to power is one of the most important things the intelligence community does, and if you have someone in there who feels more beholden to telling the president what he wants to hear, I got a real problem with that.”

Slotkin’s remarks come as Trump moves at a rapid pace to announce his Cabinet picks. Among the more controversial nominees have been Hegseth, Gabbard, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services and former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., to lead the Justice Department.

Hegseth has raised concerns over his past comments that women should not serve in combat roles.

“I can tell you, because I was at the Pentagon on Thursday, and there is absolute like hallway, constant chatter and conversation and concern from senior women officers. But also I’ve heard from folks who I’ve recommended to service academies, young women who are just starting out their career, saying, ‘Am I going to actually be able to accomplish what I want to accomplish here?'” Slotkin said.

Trump’s pick for defense secretary has also repeatedly criticized “woke” policies in the Pentagon, and advocated for firing top officials in the armed forces who have backed the department’s diversity efforts.

“I think they’ve been very clear that they’re putting together some sort of panel that’s going to look at generals, people who have served their nation the — their entire lives over multiple administrations, Democrat and Republican in combat, they are now openly talking about dismissing them like some sort of kangaroo court. You can imagine the stress in the Pentagon about that, but also in the future of who we are as a military,” Slotkin said.

Slotkin did sound a more positive note about Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio, who is Trump’s pick to lead the State Department and has a more conventional background as an advocate for muscular U.S. involvement in the world.

“We’re not perfect, but, man, I’d rather have American leadership over Chinese or Russian leadership any day of the week. And so, I hope that despite the impulses maybe of President-elect Trump, that we have Marco Rubio as a more traditional pick who’s going to understand that American role that leadership role is important,” she said.

Still, Slotkin declined to preview how she’d vote on any Cabinet nominee, despite her concern about people like Hegseth and Gabbard.

“In general, I’m a senator-elect, and advice and consent from the Senate is part of our constitutional process. So I’m going to try and meet with everybody, hear them out. But I also am a former CIA officer and Defense Department official. I know just how important these jobs are, not just for who gets what in Washington, but for the actual security of people in the United States,” she said.

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