Duckworth Condemns White House Decision to Install Tata at DoD Without Senate Confirmation

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] — Combat Veteran and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), a member of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) who served in the Reserve Forces for 23 years, today released a statement condemning the White House’s decision to appoint retired Brigadier General Anthony Tata to the position of Deputy Undersecretary of Policy in an “Acting” capacity, thus circumventing Congressional approval for this nominee. This move comes just days after Tata’s Senate confirmation hearing was cancelled at the last minute due to bipartisan concerns over his nomination for the third highest civilian position at the Department of Defense.

“Anthony Tata’s many public statements demonstrate not only a history of Islamophobia and racism, but also an adherence to a number of baseless conspiracy theories. His bigotry and lack of judgement make him a danger in any senior leadership position, much less one that sets the course for our defense policy. I also seriously doubt his ability to stand up to this president, given that he’s taken Trump’s side praising war criminal Eddie Gallagher and disparaging current and former leadership of the DoD.

“As Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, he will play a large role in setting the policy direction for the Department. It’s clear that Tata has not shown the independence, moral leadership or sound judgement that are critical for this position. This is yet another example of Trump’s politicization of the military—inserting loyalists who would fail to get Senate confirmation into positions that they are not qualified for. It’s a deeply offensive move that will have dangerous downstream effects on the lives of servicemembers and their families. I urge the White House to reverse course and remove Tata from this post immediately.”

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