Admiral Michael Mullen was named as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff by President George W. Bush in 2007 and he was re-nominated to the position by President Barack Obama in 2009. Admiral Mullen received unanimous consent from the United States Senate. He served on George W. Bush’s National Security Council and in an extraordinary New York Times op-ed, he says Steve Bannon has no business being on the principal's committee and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the National Intelligence Director should absolutely be there:
The Trump White House insists that the new organizational structure does not downgrade the roles of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs or the director of national intelligence. (The White House and Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., the current chairman of the Joint Chiefs, have both said that General Dunford will fully participate in the council’s duties.) If this is true, the administration should clarify that by making them permanent members of the principals committee. That would send a strong signal that Mr. Trump will still take seriously the military and intelligence community.
The second much needed adjustment to Mr. Trump’s arrangement of the council is the removal of Mr. Bannon from the principals committee. Putting aside for a moment Mr. Bannon’s troubling public positions, which are worrisome enough, institutionalizing his attendance threatens to politicize national security decision making.
Admiral Mullen went on to say Bannon’s presence is a threat to national security deliberations:
Having Mr. Bannon as a voting member of the principals committee will have a negative influence on what is supposed to be candid, nonpartisan deliberation. I fear that it will have a chilling effect on deliberations and, potentially, diminish the authority and the prerogatives to which Senate-confirmed cabinet officials are entitled. They, unlike Mr. Bannon, are accountable for the advice they give and the policies they execute.
Consistent though Mr. Bannon’s presence may be with the predilections of our new president, it results in a blurring of presidential responsibilities — Republican Party leader and commander in chief — that is unhealthy for the republic.
Thank you, Admiral Mullen. The NYT reported over the weekend that Donald Trump was angry to find out one of the executive orders he signed put Bannon on the National Security Council. He was angry he hadn’t been briefed on it, deflecting any responsibility for not having read it at all. Now Donald Trump is in a tough spot. Will he do the right thing, admit the mistake and remove Bannon from the National Security Council? Don’t hold your breath. That’s not a political sword the world’s largest ego will fall on. Not even in the interest of our national security.