Top Dem: Trump’s military readiness review a ‘bait-and-switch’

The top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee is slamming President Trump’s executive order on military readiness as a “bait-and-switch” since it came the same week Trump froze all federal hiring.

“This is government by bait-and-switch for the U.S. military,” Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.) said Tuesday in a lengthy statement. “In the same week that President Trump says he is rebuilding the military, he signs an order striking at the heart of U.S. military readiness. That is unconscionable, and it directly affects the support we provide to U.S. service members in the field, not to mention the national security of the United States.”

The readiness order calls for rebuilding the military to pursue “peace through strength,” a slogan Trump used in the campaign. The order was signed Friday at the same time as the much more controversial order on refugees.

{mosads}Under the order, Defense Secretary James Mattis will have to prepare a 30-day “readiness review” that assesses training, equipment maintenance, munitions, modernization and infrastructure, and identifies actions to be taken this year.

Mattis will also have 60 days to submit a plan to improve readiness by fiscal 2019.

The order also calls for the Pentagon and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to craft a budget amendment to boost military spending this year. Mattis and OMB will also need to create a fiscal 2018 budget that has levels “necessary to improve readiness conditions and address risks to national security,” the order says.

Earlier last week, Trump signed an executive order that freezes federal hiring. Military personnel are exempt from the freeze, but civilian employees at the Pentagon are not.

In his statement, Smith said that means employees who work at military depots and shipyards on renewable terms are at risk of being laid off.

“The effects of this order will be widespread,” Smith said. “For example, at Red River Army Depot in Texas, 678 direct labor and 55 indirect labor term and temporary workers are about to be laid off. Warner Robins Air Logistics Complex in Georgia is short 343 aircraft maintainers and cannot hire any more‎. At Anniston Army Depot in Alabama, 248 term and temporary workers need to be hired and 40 are about to be laid off.”

Smith also said the order blocks authorities granted in this year’s defense policy bill to move temporary employees into permanent positions to help with a maintenance backlog.

“It also provided authority so that DOD could quickly hire desperately needed cyber professionals,” Smith said. “Now, under President Trump’s readiness-killing hiring freeze, these authorities cannot be used.”

Republicans, meanwhile, have praised Trump’s readiness review.

“President Trump’s concerns about military readiness are well-founded, and ordering the Pentagon to take immediate steps to begin rebuilding our force is exactly the right step,” Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Texas), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said in a statement Friday. “The current readiness crisis is the consequence of years of budget cuts and neglect. Congress and the administration must act together immediately to begin to turn the situation around, understanding that a sustained effort over several years is required.”