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Sen. Tom Cotton has written a letter to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin raising concerns about efforts to stymie President-elect Donald Trump.

Earlier this month CNN revealed that Pentagon officials were “holding informal discussions” on how to essentially push back against any of Trump’s orders that they dislike.

“We are all preparing and planning for the worst-case scenario, but the reality is that we don’t know how this is going to play out yet,” one defense official told the network.

“Troops are compelled by law to disobey unlawful orders,” another defense official said. “But the question is what happens then – do we see resignations from senior military leaders? Or would they view that as abandoning their people?”

None of this has pleased Cotton.

“I write to express my concern that Pentagon officials are seeking to undermine President Trump’s incoming administration,” his letter to Austin begins.

“It appears that partisans and obstructionists inside the Department of Defense are laying groundwork to defy or circumvent President Trump’s plans for both military and civil-service reform. These actions undermine civilian control of the military and our constitutional structure of government,” it continues.

As an example of what he was talking about, Cotton referenced media reports about Pentagon officials who’ve been holding meetings “to strategize against President Trump’s defense agenda.”

He also called out reports that Trump intends to arbitrarily start firing uniformed leaders left and right like a maniac.

And Cotton took a direct shot at Austin as well.

“You also issued a message to the department the day after the election commenting that the military will follow ‘lawful orders’ from the new president—a thinly veiled and baseless insinuation that President Trump will issue unlawful orders,” the senator wrote.

Continuing his letter, Cotton addressed reports that Department of Defense officials plan to shield poorly performing or misbehaving employees from termination.

“Similarly, the department has also attempted to preemptively obstruct President Trump’s plans for (badly needed) defense civil-service reform,” he wrote. “Earlier this year, you released a memo on the ‘Integrity and Continuity of the Defense Career Civilian Workforce’ to impede efforts to remove underperforming personnel and eliminate unnecessary positions. Comptroller Michael McCord also lectured the incoming administration about avoiding the ‘self-inflicted wound’ of civil-service reform.”

“I have to observe that these actions and reports only prove the need for reform and fundamental change at the Department of Defense. And, of course, while inappropriate and annoying, these tactics are also useless because no action by the outgoing administration can limit the incoming president’s constitutional authority as commander-in-chief,” he added.

Cotton concluded his letter by bluntly telling Austin to “knock off this nonsense and get on with the business of handing over the reins to the next administration.”

President-elect Donald Trump has for his part promised to reform the Department of Defense — and the wider federal government — by removing deeply entrenched, ideologically driven bureaucrats.

Similarly, Trump has established the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to streamline the government and reduce/eliminate unnecessary inefficiencies by axing unnecessary regulations and firing unnecessary employees.

Democrats and their media allies for their part have already begun complaining about these plans ad nauseum.

“Revoking regulations or refusing to endorse them will endanger people’s lives,” Michael Gerrard, a leftist law professor at Columbia University, whined to ABC News. “I’m very worried.”

In response to Gerrard’s complaints, Trump transition spokesperson Brian Hughes assured ABC News that there’s nothing to worry about.

“Elon Musk and President Trump are great friends and brilliant leaders working together to Make America Great Again,”  he said. “Elon Musk is a once-in-a-generation business leader and our federal bureaucracy will certainly benefit from his ideas and efficiency.”

Vivek Saxena
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