By Idrees Ali and Phil Stewart
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump’s pick to become the highest-ranking military officer will appear before lawmakers on Tuesday for his confirmation hearing after being plucked from retirement and relative obscurity, stoking Democratic accusations of politicization of the U.S. military.
In February, Trump shook up the Pentagon by firing Air Force General C.Q. Brown, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and naming retired Air Force Lieutenant General Dan “Razin” Caine to succeed him.
Caine is in the unprecedented position of being the first nominee for the post who will have to be brought back to the military, promoted and approved by senators for the four-year job. He will also require a presidential waiver, since he fails to meet technical qualifications for the job.
Caine will be under particular scrutiny by members of the Senate Armed Services Committee to ensure that he is apolitical, a concern that was heightened by Trump’s firing of Brown as well as the firing of the chief of naval operations and the Pentagon’s top military lawyers.
Uniformed military officials are supposed to be loyal to the U.S. Constitution and independent of any party or political movement.
One official close to Caine has said that the retired three-star general is focused on keeping the military out of politics.
In recent weeks, Caine has been seen walking the halls of the Pentagon in his uniform and meeting with lawmakers ahead of the hearing.
“General Caine is the right leader to strengthen our military, deliver peace through strength, and make America strong again,” Republican Senator Tim Sheehy said on X.
The slim Republican Senate majority means that Caine can lose support from no more than three senators to be confirmed, if Democrats and independents unite against him.
Caine, a retired F-16 pilot, has a military career that is a far cry from the traditional path to becoming the president’s top military adviser.
Previous generals and admirals have led a combatant command or a military branch of service– something Caine has never done.
Caine was a part-time member of the National Guard and “a serial entrepreneur and investor” from 2009 to 2016. He was most recently the associate director for military affairs at the Central Intelligence Agency, before his retirement late last year.
But it was his time in Iraq from 2018 to 2019 that helped him gain Trump’s attention.
Little is known about where Caine stands on major policy issues.
Lawmakers will likely use the hearing as a chance to draw out Caine on global issues, like Russia’s war in Ukraine, tensions in the Middle East and preparations for a potential showdown with China.
(Reporting by Idrees Ali and Phil Stewart; Editing by Leslie Adler)
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