Pentagon policy chief Kahl to leave after summer NATO summit

WASHINGTON — Colin Kahl, who has served for two years as the Pentagon’s policy chief under the Biden administration, will resign this summer.

Kahl, who the Senate confirmed as undersecretary of defense for policy in a party-line vote in April 2021 , will return to his role as a professor at Stanford University, a Defense Department official familiar with Kahl’s plans told Defense News. The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the individual was not authorized to talk publicly on the matter, said Kahl is still notifying his colleagues about the plan.

Kahl’s planned resignation was first reported by NBC News .

The official said that Stanford originally agreed to allow Kahl a two-year leave of absence from his professorship. But as that mid-April deadline approached, Kahl got Stanford’s permission to stay on a few months more.

The extension will allow Kahl to remain in his role supporting and advising Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin through the NATO Summit planned for July 11-12 in Vilnius, Lithuania, the official said.

The official said there is no specific date yet set for Kahl’s return to Stanford, but staying on for the Vilnius summit — which the official called an “important milestone event” for the department — will keep him in his current role at least through mid-July.

Kahl’s confirmation in 2021 was tumultuous, and Senate Republicans unanimously objected to making him the No. 3 civilian at the Pentagon. Some lawmakers criticized Kahl’s support for the Obama administration’s nuclear deal with Iran, and in his confirmation hearing he apologized for his “sometimes disrespectful” language in tweets harshly criticizing Republican lawmakers during the Trump administration.

The Senate Armed Services Committee ultimately deadlocked on his nomination, with Vice President Kamala Harris casting the tiebreaking vote in the Senate to advance his nomination. The Senate ultimately voted to confirm Kahl 49-45 when a few Republican senators were absent.

Before coming to the Pentagon two years ago, Kahl served as co-director of Stanford’s Center for International Security and Cooperation. He was also the first Steven C. Házy senior fellow at Stanford’s Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, as well as a political science professor.

Kahl served as deputy assistant to President Barack Obama and national security adviser to then-Vice President Joe Biden from 2014 to 2017.

Stephen Losey is the air warfare reporter for Defense News. He previously covered leadership and personnel issues at Air Force Times, and the Pentagon, special operations and air warfare at Military.com. He has traveled to the Middle East to cover U.S. Air Force operations.

华盛顿——在拜登政府时期担任五角大楼政策主管两年的科林·卡尔将于今年夏天辞职。

据一位熟悉卡尔计划的国防部官员向《防务新闻》透露，卡尔将重返斯坦福大学担任教授。卡尔于2021年4月经参议院以党派投票方式确认出任国防部负责政策的副部长。这位官员因未获授权公开谈论此事而要求匿名，他表示卡尔仍在就此计划通知同事。

卡尔计划辞职的消息最初由NBC新闻报道。

这位官员表示，斯坦福大学最初同意卡尔休假两年，不再担任教授职务。但随着四月中旬截止日期的临近，卡尔获得了斯坦福大学的许可，可以再留任几个月。

这位官员表示，此次延期将使卡尔能够继续担任支持和建议国防部长劳埃德·奥斯汀的职务，直至7月11日至12日在立陶宛维尔纽斯举行的北约峰会。

该官员表示，卡尔返回斯坦福的具体日期尚未确定，但参加维尔纽斯峰会（该官员称这是该部门的“重要里程碑事件”）将使他至少在 7 月中旬之前继续担任目前的职务。

2021年卡尔的任命过程可谓一波三折，参议院共和党人一致反对任命他为五角大楼第三号文职官员。一些议员批评卡尔支持奥巴马政府与伊朗达成的核协议，在任命听证会上，他为自己在特朗普执政期间在推特上严厉批评共和党议员的“有时不敬”言辞道歉。

参议院军事委员会最终在卡尔的提名表决中陷入僵局，副总统卡马拉·哈里斯在参议院投下打破僵局的关键一票，使他的提名获得通过。由于几名共和党参议员缺席，参议院最终以49票赞成、45票反对的投票结果确认了卡尔的提名。

两年前来到五角大楼之前，卡尔曾担任斯坦福大学国际安全与合作中心联合主任。他还是斯坦福大学弗里曼·斯波格利国际问题研究所首位史蒂文·C·哈齐高级研究员，以及政治学教授。

2014 年至 2017 年，卡尔曾担任巴拉克·奥巴马总统的副助理和时任副总统乔·拜登的国家安全顾问。

斯蒂芬·洛西是《防务新闻》的空战记者。他此前曾在《空军时报》报道领导层和人事问题，并在Military.com网站报道五角大楼、特种作战和空战。他曾前往中东报道美国空军的行动。