Todd Jacobson
NS&D Monitor
1/16/2015
Three senior senators on the Senate Armed Services Committee last week asked President Obama to consider retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Jonathan George as the next Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear, Chemical and Biological Defense Programs. George would replace Andrew Weber, who left the position for a slot at the State Department in the fall, but the bipartisan support from Sens. Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.) and Angus King (I-Maine) for the former National Nuclear Security Administration and National Security Council official comes as the White House is believed to be zeroing in on another former NSC official, Lynn Rusten, for the post. Rusten previously served as the NSC’s senior director for arms control and nonproliferation.
In their Jan. 7 letter, obtained by NS&D Monitor, Donnelly, Fischer and King called George a “highly qualified candidate for this post with the leadership, policy and operations experience” at DoD and DOE. He was the NNSA weapons program’s top military official, the principal assistant deputy administrator for military application, from 2008 to 2009, and served as the NSC’s director of strategic capabilities policy before retiring from the Air Force. In 2012, he unsuccessfully ran for the Democratic nomination in Indiana’s 9th District. “An understanding of NNSA’s internal workings and relationships with NNSA’s senior leaders and lab directors will be essential to the success of the next ASD(NCB) given the priority maintaining and modernizing our nuclear arsenal and the close collaboration of DoD and NNSA on the Nuclear Weapons Council,” Donnelly, Fischer and King wrote.
Nomination Timeline Unclear
Donnelly is the new ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee; Fischer and King are members of the committee, and Fischer is also the chair of the Emerging Threats and Capabilities Subcommittee. “Given the trust you placed in General George as a senior advisor in the White House, I know you share my esteem for him as a dedicated public servant on whose leadership and integrity our nation can depend,” the senators wrote. “I hope you will review this recommendation, and I appreciate your consideration.”
It remains to be seen how quickly the Administration will act to fill the post. Many weapons complex observers expect the Administration to nominate someone this month, but a delay in the nomination process for Defense Secretary selection Ash Carter could impact that schedule. Carter had back surgery in December and isn’t expected to have his confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee until the first week of February. It’s unclear if the Administration will wait for Carter to be in place at the Pentagon before nominating a successor to Weber.
