Former defense secretary, White House chief of staff and Central Intelligence Agency director Leon Panetta represented the Monterey Bay area in Congress and lives in Carmel Valley. He's among five former secretaries of defense who signed a letter urging Congress to do its oversight job when it comes to military leadership.
Panetta recently spoke with KAZU's Amy Mayer, who asked how and why the letter came about.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
Leon Panetta: Well, as secretaries of defense, we recognize that it is really important—if we are to have responsible military leadership for our troops and our warriors—that they have to be individuals that have a great deal of experience. Many of them have combat experience. And they have to be very distinguished in terms of their career. That's really important. But also very important is that they have to remain totally apolitical. They cannot become pawns for the political process because that will impact them on their judgment, with regards to what we need to do to protect our national security. So when a step was taken by the Trump administration to remove the top key people in the military leadership—the chairman of the Joint Chiefs plus other heads, plus, I believe, some of the attorneys as well—the concern was that there really was no cause. I mean, I respect the right of the president to remove individuals, but normally that's based on cause. The only thing that seemed to be the case here was that all of them served in the Biden administration, and therefore they were going to get rid of them. And so that really comes down to dismissals based on nothing else but politics. And so our concern as secretaries of defense is that, if we allow politics to become involved here, is that then going to be the standard for appointing new military leadership—that they have to be somehow politically in tune with the administration? And if that is the case, that would clearly undermine the protection of our national security and our volunteer force, which has to be based on their dedication to serving our country and their oath to be loyal to the Constitution, not to a political party, and frankly, not to a particular president. So for that reason, we thought it was really important for Congress to initiate hearings to find out just exactly what the reasons were here and to make sure that in appointing new individuals that we do not change that standard that has always been the case: that politics should not be considered in the appointment of our military leadership.
Amy Mayer: How confident are you that our military today will stand up for the Constitution, even in the face of potential illegal demands from the Commander in Chief?
LP: I know the military pretty well, and I have served in the military. And obviously, as the secretary of defense, worked very closely with our military leadership. And I really do believe that, [when] push comes to shove, they are going to be true to their oath of preserving, protecting and defending the Constitution of the United States. But there's no question that there's a tremendous amount of pressure now being brought to make sure that even our military is somehow compliant with the politics of the White House. The removal of this military leadership is a symbol that they don't want people who are truly independent and truly apolitical.
Leon Panetta is the co-founder of the Panetta Institute for Public Policy, located on the Cal State Monterey Bay campus. CSUMB holds the broadcast license for KAZU.
