Secretary of Defense Reed?
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Rhode Island’s senior Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) has repeated denied that he is interested in the position of Secretary of Defense. With Secretary of Defense Robert Gates scheduled to step down soon the White House is on a quest to name a strong leader who can work with Congress, allies, will have respect of the military leadership, and can serve as a “war time consigliere for President Obama as he enters his re-election campaign and tries to remove the United States from wars in Afghanistan and Iraq."
Despite Senator Reed’s statements of denial in having an interest in the top military position – the reality may be different.
Most recently Reed’s spokesman, Chip Unruh told Bloomberg News in a statement wrote, “Senator Reed loves his job and has made it very clear he wants to continue representing the people of Rhode Island in the U.S. Senate.” But, can he turn down a request from the leader of the free world?
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First, when the President of the United States asks a West Point grad to serve his country in a critical role and at a critical time – men and women like Reed have a tough time saying no. Jack Reed was literally schooled in the motto, “Duty, Honor, Country” at West Point. For Reed, a man educated at West Point, trained as a soldier, and served his country in uniform – it seems inconceivable that he would turn down a request from the Oval Office.
According to his own official biography, “Reed, an Army Ranger and a paratrooper, served in the 82nd Airborne Division as an Infantry Platoon Leader, a Company Commander, and a Battalion Staff Officer. He returned to West Point in 1978 as an Associate Professor in the Department of Social Sciences.” Seems like good training for a man to oversee one of the largest military organizations in the history of the world.
U.S. Senator Jack Reed
There are two Senate factors that make Reed's appointment more likely. First, he has served as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee since joining the Senate and now ranks second to only the Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-MI). As a result, Reed has significant power, expertise and relationships – relationships with members of the Senate that could be critical for President Obama.
Second, the U.S. Senate is not the same as when Reed was first elected to succeed Claiborne Pell in 1996. Since then, Congress has become more polarized, more media-reactive and less collegial. It was once known as the "world’s greatest deliberative body,” but today, the U.S. Senate can be as divisive as a caged wrestling match. The once cerebral upper house is often caustic. Reed, regardless of public pronouncements, may want to avoid years of budget cutting and deficit reduction and serve the country as the leader of federal department with a budget of $680 plus billion – an amount nearly 90 times larger than Rhode Island’s annual budget.
Effect on Rhode Island
With the retirement of Patrick Kennedy on the House side and a Reed move to the Department of Defense, the impact on Rhode Island’s congressional clout would be devastating. In 2008, Rhode Island featured two of its four members serving on “key money committees.” With a Reed move, Rhode Island’s delegation would lack key committee assignment, seniority, and would feature half of them serving in the minority party (Congressman James Langevin and David Cicilline in the House).
Instead of Rhode Island being one of the most pound-for-pound influential delegations it would transform to a junior delegation in just a 12 month period.
If the President Calls, What Happens?
In Rhode Island, if Jack Reed were to accept a Cabinet position this year, the Governor would order a new election. This is a change in law in 2009 and different from when Governor Lincoln Almond named Lincoln Chafee to complete the term of his father, John Chafee, who died in 1999. The election would create scramble – tomorrow GoLocalProv will look at the potential field of candidates and their odds.
Reed’s Decision
Ultimately, if the President calls, Jack Reed will serve.
Rhode Island Statute
§ 17-4-9 Special election to fill senatorial vacancy. – Whenever a person elected a senator in congress, at any time between the day of that person's election and the beginning of his or her term of office, refuses to serve and so declares to the secretary of state, or dies, becomes insane, removes from the state, or is otherwise incapacitated, or whenever a vacancy happens in the representation of this state in the United States senate, the governor shall issue his or her writ of election directed to the several city and town clerks, or local boards as the case may be, ordering a new election of senator to fill the vacancy to be held in the state at as early a date, to be stated in the writ, as will be in compliance with the provisions of law in relation to these elections, but no election provided for by this section shall be held exclusively on Saturday; provided, that whenever a vacancy occurs between the first day of July and the first day of October in any even numbered year, the governor shall, unless in his or her opinion the public good requires an earlier special election, issue his or her writ for a special election to fill the vacancy to be held with the general election on the Tuesday next after the first Monday in November of that year.
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