More turnover in Pentagon policy office as Baker leaves top role

The Pentagon’s acting policy chief will leave her post this spring.

Sasha Baker’s departure will open a new gap in an office struggling to fill its top seats for almost a year. Colin Kahl, who the Senate narrowly confirmed to the position in 2021, left last summer. Since then, Baker has temporarily held the role.

Replacing her will be Amanda Dory, director of the Africa Center for Strategic Studies at the National Defense University and an alumna of the Pentagon policy office.

The White House nominated Derek Chollet, a high-ranking State Department official, to the top policy job in July 2023. Chollet testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee in late September, facing difficult questions about his role in the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan . The committee has not voted on his nomination.

“The sooner that confirmation can occur, the better,” Pentagon press secretary Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters this morning.

Ryder did not address why the nomination is stuck, instead referring reporters to Congress. The White House, as required by law, renominated Chollet at the start of 2024.

Meanwhile, the second-highest position in Pentagon policy will also soon go vacant. Last week the Senate committee voted for Melissa Dalton, who has filled the deputy role since Mara Karlin departed late last year, to be undersecretary of the Air Force.

A spokesperson for Baker did not say where she plans to move after leaving the Pentagon at the end of April.

Noah Robertson is the Pentagon reporter at Defense News. He previously covered national security for the Christian Science Monitor. He holds a bachelor’s degree in English and government from the College of William & Mary in his hometown of Williamsburg, Virginia.

五角大楼代理政策主管将于今年春天离职。

萨莎·贝克的离职将使参议院司法部长办公室出现新的空缺，该办公室近一年来一直难以填补高层职位空缺。科林·卡尔于2021年经参议院勉强确认担任该职位，但已于去年夏天离职。此后，贝克一直临时代理该职务。

接替她的是美国国防大学非洲战略研究中心主任、五角大楼政策办公室前员工阿曼达·多里。

白宫于2023年7月提名国务院高级官员德里克·乔莱特担任最高政策职位。乔莱特于9月下旬在参议院军事委员会作证，面临有关其在美国从阿富汗撤军中所扮演角色的棘手问题。该委员会尚未就其提名进行投票表决。

“越早得到确认越好，”五角大楼新闻秘书帕特·莱德将军今天上午告诉记者。

莱德没有解释提名为何陷入僵局，而是让记者去问国会。根据法律规定，白宫在2024年初再次提名了肖莱特。

与此同时，五角大楼政策部门的第二高职位也将很快空缺。上周，参议院委员会投票选举梅丽莎·道尔顿担任空军副部长，自去年年底玛拉·卡林离职后，她一直担任该职位。

贝克的发言人没有透露她4月底离开五角大楼后计划搬到哪里。

诺亚·罗伯逊是《防务新闻》的五角大楼记者。他此前曾为《基督教科学箴言报》报道国家安全新闻。他拥有弗吉尼亚州威廉斯堡威廉与玛丽学院的英语和政治学学士学位。