Madeleine Albright to lead Defense Policy Board a year after Trump removed her
By Oren Liebermann, CNN
Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright was sworn in as the new chair of the Defense Policy Board Wednesday, the Pentagon announced, almost exactly one year after the Trump administration abruptly removed her and other national security experts from the advisory committee.
Albright is the first chair of the board since Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin initiated his review of the Pentagon’s advisory committees earlier this year. In early February, Austin dismissed hundreds of members of the department’s 42 boards and committees, including controversial members appointed in the waning days of the Trump administration.
After losing the 2020 election, Trump purged some longstanding foreign policy and national security experts from the boards, including Albright, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, and others.
Now, one year after she was removed from the Defense Policy Board, the 84-year-old Albright will return as its chair. She served as the first female secretary of state from 1997-2001.
“Under Secretary Austin’s leadership, the Department is adapting to the changing nature of warfare and working to stay ahead of any potential adversaries,” Albright said in a statement. “I look forward to partnering with my colleagues on the DPB to offer our independent advice on the full range of policy issues confronting the Department.”
As of now, Albright is the only member of the Defense Policy Board, according to the Defense Department’s website.
The Defense Policy Board is an outside advisory group of former high-profile national security officials who “provide the Secretary of Defense and the Deputy Secretary of Defense, independent, informed advice and opinions concerning matters of defense policy in response to specific tasks from the Secretary of Defense, the Deputy Secretary of Defense,” according to its website.
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