WASHINGTON — Senators from both parties erupted in frustration Tuesday over what they described as growing secrecy and chaotic decision-making at the Pentagon — turning a routine nomination hearing into a vent session against War Department policymakers.
Austin Dahmer, President Trump’s pick to be assistant secretary for strategy, plans and forces, was supposed to discuss his new role with the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Instead, Dahmer was grilled over what lawmakers described as the Pentagon’s failure to communicate — with Congress, foreign allies, and even the White House.
“Members and staff of this committee have struggled to receive information from the policy office,” began committee chairman Roger Wicker (R-Miss.).
“I’ve noticed an unsettling trend this year,” Wicker added. “At times, the Pentagon officials have pursued policies that are not in accord with President Trump’s orders or seem uncoordinated within the administration.”
Lawmakers have been left in the dark about a string of controversial decisions — including at least one pause in Ukraine military aid, a review of the AUKUS submarine pact, canceled troop deployments and meetings with key allies.
“Members and staff of this committee have struggled to receive information from the policy office,” Wicker continued, “and have not been able to consult in a meaningful way with the shop, either on the National Defense Strategy or the Global Posture Review.”
Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) concurred, blasting the Pentagon’s policy office as “the worst in the administration,” and saying it was harder to get answers from there than from War Secretary Pete Hegseth or President Trump directly.
“Man, I can’t even get a response,” an exasperated Sullivan told the nominee. “And we’re on your team!”
Sullivan also tore into the War Department for drafting a new National Defense Strategy (NDS) without consulting the lawmakers who mandated it.
“Where do you think the requirement for the NDS comes from?” he asked rhetorically. “Yeah, it comes from us. Don’t you think it would be smart to maybe preview it?”
The “shop,” as Wicker called it, is headed by Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby, who was reportedly behind halts in aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine that were reversed once the president caught wind of the moves.
In July, President Trump appeared blindsided when he learned about a pause in US security aid to Ukraine — a pause Dahmer flatly denied existed, even though a Pentagon spokesman confirmed it in a public statement at the time.
Wicker also cited the sudden cancellation of an Army brigade’s deployment to Romania last week, saying the move seemed to directly contradict Trump’s public pledge to keep troops in Europe.
“This decision did not appear to reflect the policy mandate of President Trump,” the Mississippian said. “Just two weeks ago, the president had said that troops would not be withdrawn from Europe.”
“It is unclear to me how the move fits with the commander-in-chief’s direction.”
When Wicker asked why the Pentagon did not brief Congress on the Romania decision, Dahmer insisted the committee had received three briefings on the matter — frustrating the Republican.
“Are we confusing ‘notifications’ with ‘briefing’? Check on that; will you do that?” Wicker asked him.
The confusion even extended to Dahmer’s own role, as Wicker said the committee only learned Sunday night that the nominee’s prospective job title had changed — part of a quiet internal reorganization that hadn’t been briefed to Congress.
The position, long called “assistant secretary for strategy, plans and capabilities,” was renamed “strategy, plans and forces” in an Oct. 8 Pentagon memo.
Democrats and Republicans alike said the incident was emblematic of a wider breakdown under Hegseth, who has reportedly required all communications with Congress to be cleared through his legislative affairs office.
When pressed on why the Pentagon’s policy arm keeps ending up in hot water, Dahmer blamed “fake news” and “inaccurate reporting,” claiming he didn’t know key details about many of the moves.
That didn’t fly.
“I understand media reports can be wrong, believe me,” chided Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) before referencing a beloved cartoon character, “but it just seems like there’s this Pigpen-like mess coming out of the policy shop that you don’t see from, say, intel and security.”
Though Dahmer has not yet been confirmed in his new role, he has been performing the duties of the deputy under secretary of war for policy, causing lawmakers to question whether Dahmer’s claims not to know the answers to various complaints were accurate.
“My impression today is you cloaked your testimony in a veil of ignorance,” said Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI), the committee’s ranking member. “You don’t know what’s happened in many different cases, when in fact, you were basically the stand-in and surrogate for Secretary Colby.”
Dahmer eventually acknowledged some missteps, saying he took “responsibility for the late notification and lack of consultation” on several fronts.
But Reed still wasn’t buying it.
“Mr. Dahmer, you’re clearly avoiding answers to questions that you should have been acutely aware of,” he said. “That does not bode well for your future role in the Department of Defense.”
If the Senate rejects Dahmer, he’d become only the second Trump Pentagon nominee to face serious opposition — after Hegseth himself, whose confirmation squeaked through the Senate with a tie-breaking vote from Vice President JD Vance.
