Top Pentagon policymaker Colin Kahl to leave post this summer

Colin Kahl, the undersecretary of defense for policy at the Pentagon, plans to leave his position this summer.

Kahl, who served in the role since being confirmed on a party-line vote in April 2021, helped shape the department’s National Defense Strategy, a document released last year that called China the department’s “pacing challenge,” as well as the Defense Department’s security assistance to Ukraine.

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He is currently on leave from Stanford University, where he’s a tenured professor. He had received a two-year leave of absence, according to a source familiar with his plans. Kahl asked for an extension as the deadline approached last month, which was given through mid-July, so that he can support President Joe Biden and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin in the lead-up to the NATO Summit in Vilnius on July 11 and 12.

Prior to joining Stanford, Kahl served as national security adviser to then-Vice President Biden from October 2014 through January 2017. He also served as a policy official in the Pentagon during the Obama administration for the Middle East.

“Some of his key accomplishments include providing responsive and strategic policy advice, orchestrating the department’s security assistance to Ukraine, developing and implementing the National Defense Strategy, and strengthening U.S. deterrence in the Indo-Pacific and beyond,” a Department of Defense spokesman told the Washington Examiner. “Strengthening U.S. deterrence: Recognizing the People’s Republic of China as a pacing challenge, Dr. Kahl has worked to strengthen and sustain U.S. deterrence capabilities. This involves developing new strategies and processes to better respond to potential threats and challenges in the Indo-Pacific and beyond.”

Kahl faced a difficult confirmation process in which Republicans rebuked his partisan social media posts. He apologized, and the Senate confirmed him by a 49-45 vote.

His departure was reported by NBC News on Wednesday. Finding a replacement for Kahl could pose a problem, given Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s (R-AL) hold on DOD nominations. The senator is preventing the nominees due to his belief that a Pentagon policy paying for the travel expenses of service members, or their loved ones, traveling out-of-state for an abortion violates the Hyde Amendment, which blocks federal funds from being used for most abortions.

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Tuberville has held up nearly 200 military nominations, while the Department of Defense projects approximately 650 general and flag officers will require Senate confirmation between now and the end of the year. One of those that will come up later this year will be the expected nomination of Air Force Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. to serve as the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff as Army Gen. Mark Milley’s four-year term comes to an end this fall.

Top Pentagon officials have warned that Tuberville’s hold could have national security implications, an assessment the senator rejects.

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