US: Biden Nominates Air Force Chief as Top General

The White House announced this week that US President Joe Biden has appointed US Air Force Chief Gen. Charles Q. Brown to serve as the next Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Brown would become the second Black officer to serve as the country’s top general if he is confirmed.

The White House announced on Wednesday that Biden has nominated Brown to become the next top military officer of the US. Brown would be succeeding the outgoing Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley. If confirmed by the Senate, Brown would be the second Black officer to serve in the role, following General Colin Powell. Brown’s nomination also follows Biden’s nomination of Lloyd Austin to be the first Black Pentagon chief.

A senior Biden administration official said that Biden accepted Austin’s recommendation of Brown to serve in the position, saying that he “understands the strategic challenges the United States faces around the world.”

“He helped build and lead the air campaign against ISIS. He is deeply versed in the challenges posed by the PRC and he has a strong understanding of our NATO allies’ perspectives and capabilities,” said the official.

It remains to be seen how quickly Brown could be confirmed by the Senate as Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville has been blocking military nominations since February, citing his belief that the Pentagon has been improperly using funds to shoulder the travel costs of service members seeking abortions. The White House has since urged Tuberville to drop his blocking of military nominations, saying that the Republican lawmaker was threatening national security.

On Tuesday, Biden’s nominee to serve as the federal judge in Kansas, Jabari Wamble, has asked to withdraw his name from consideration, according to the letter seen by Reuters. Wamble said that he felt it was “best” that he remains as the federal prosecutor in Kansas but did not specify the reasons for his withdrawal.

A source familiar with the matter said that the White House had concerns that Wamble would receive a “not qualified” rating from the American Bar Association, the group that assesses the qualification of judicial nominees. Biden originally nominated Wamble to serve as the federal judge in the Denver-based 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, but the nomination expired in the Senate.

Photo: US Air Force Archive/Wikimedia Commons(CC by 2.0)