“Last fall, the Pentagon’s most senior leaders agreed that two top generals should be promoted to elite, four-star commands,” the New York Times reports.

“For then-Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the tricky part was that both of the accomplished officers were women…”

“So the Pentagon officials agreed on an unusual strategy: They held back their recommendations until after the November elections, betting that if Joe Biden won, he and his aides would be more supportive of the Pentagon picks than Mr. Trump, who had feuded with Mr. Esper and has a history of disparaging women.”

George Will: “The first of this century’s national traumas is denoted by two numbers: 9/11. One purpose of, and a sufficient justification for, the second impeachment of the 45th president was to inscribe this century’s second trauma in the nation’s memory as: 1/6.”

“Although not nearly as tragic as 9/11 in lives lost and radiating policy consequences, 1/6 should become, as its implications percolate into the national consciousness, even more unsettling. Long before 9/11, Americans knew that foreign fanaticisms were perennial dangers. After 1/6, Americans know what their Constitution’s Framers knew: In any democracy, domestic fanaticisms always are, potentially, rank weeds that flourish when fertilized by persons who are as unscrupulous as they are prominent.”

CNN: “Military officials overseeing the authorization process to launch nuclear weapons were unaware on January 6 that then-Vice President Mike Pence’s military aide carrying the ‘nuclear football’ was potentially in danger as rioters got close during the violent Capitol insurrection, according to a defense official.”

“US Strategic Command became aware of the gravity of the incident after seeing a video played at the Senate impeachment trial Wednesday showing Pence, his Secret Service agents and a military officer carrying the briefcase with classified nuclear launch information running down a flight of stairs inside the Capitol to get to safety.”

Wall Street Journal: “President Biden is expected Wednesday to announce the creation of a Pentagon review of the national security aspects of the administration’s China strategy as part of a broader administration effort to determine its approach to countering Beijing, administration officials said.”

Politico: “In his first weeks in office, the new secretary has installed a slate of well-respected national security professionals in his front office who are working to restore order to the Pentagon’s policymaking process. Those staffers are already making changes to ensure that civilian voices are included in policy meetings.”

“U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has signed a memo ordering commanding officers and supervisors to hold a one-day ‘stand-down’ to discuss extremism within the armed forces in the next 60 days,” Axios reports.

“After multiple current service members and veterans were arrested for their actions during the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol siege, the Pentagon has increased efforts to combat white supremacy and other forms of extremism in its ranks.”

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Wednesday that the U.S. Space Force “absolutely” has the “full support of the Biden administration,” Axios reports.

“Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin dismissed hundreds of members of the Pentagon’s policy advisory boards Monday, ousting last-minute Trump administration nominees as well as officials appointed by previous administrations,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“By removing members, effective Feb. 16, Mr. Austin avoided selectively firing those appointed by the Trump administration.”

The Intercept: “Tensions ran so high at the Department of Homeland Security’s oversight wing that one senior official fantasized about Arya Stark, the fictional assassin in Game of Thrones, ‘taking care of’ the agency chief.”

“The investigation, conducted in 2020 by an outside law firm, reveals bureaucratic infighting so bitter that it drove out an agency head and led to an array of startling allegations, including that a high-level official made threatening comments about a concealed weapon during a meeting. The investigation paints a picture of DHS’s Office of Inspector General in chaos.”

“The commander of the D.C. National Guard said the Pentagon restricted his authority ahead of the riot at the U.S. Capitol, requiring higher level sign-off to respond that cost time as the events that day spiraled out of control,” the Washington Post reports.

“Local commanders typically have the power to take military action on their own to save lives or prevent significant property damage in an urgent situation when there isn’t enough time to obtain approval from headquarters.”

“But Maj. Gen. William J. Walker, the commanding general of the District of Columbia National Guard, said the Pentagon essentially took that power and other authorities away from him ahead of a pro-Trump protest on Jan. 6. That meant he couldn’t immediately roll out troops when he received a panicked phone call from the Capitol Police chief warning that rioters were about to enter the U.S. Capitol.”

“President Joe Biden is set to issue an executive order to reverse a Pentagon policy that largely bars transgender individuals from joining the military, dumping a ban ordered by President Donald Trump in a tweet during his first year in office,” the AP reports..

“Biden has been widely expected to overturn the Trump policy in his early days in office. The White House could announce the move as early as Monday.”

An NPR analysis has found that nearly 1 in 5 people charged over their alleged involvement in the attack on the U.S. Capitol appear to have a military history.

The House is expected to vote Thursday on a waiver to permit retired Gen. Lloyd Austin to serve as secretary of defense in the Biden administration, CNN reports.

“Austin, who would be the first African American to run the department, needs to be granted a waiver from a law requiring a defense secretary to wait seven years after active-duty service before taking the job.”

The Senate confirmed Avril Haines, President Biden’s pick to lead the sprawling U.S. intelligence community Wednesday, delivering the newly inaugurated president his first Senate-confirmed cabinet secretary, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Associated Press: “Two U.S. Army National Guard members are being removed from the security mission to secure Joe Biden’s presidential inauguration. A U.S. Army official and a senior U.S. intelligence official say the two National Guard members have been found to have ties to fringe right group militias.”

“No plot against Biden was found.”