By TARA COPP, Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s pick to be the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Dan “Razin” Caine, will face questions from senators during his confirmation hearing Tuesday about his qualifications to become the top U.S. military officer.
Caine is a decorated F-16 combat pilot who served in leadership positions in multiple special operations commands and in some of the Pentagon’s most classified programs. He does not, however, meet the prerequisites for Joint Chiefs chairman, although they can be waived by the president.
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Caine was nominated by Trump in February, one day after the president fired the former chairman, Gen. CQ Brown Jr., in a purge of general officers whom he and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth viewed as endorsing diversity, equity and inclusion in the ranks.
Caine met Trump when the president visited troops in Iraq in 2018 during his first term. Trump has told political supporters the encounter left an impression on him — and that Caine put on a red “Make America Great Again” hat at the time, something Caine’s inner circle has said is not true.
Caine has been described by former military colleagues as a deeply serious career officer who has spent the past few weeks meeting with both Democratic and Republican lawmakers, said a former U.S. official who has helped Caine prepare for the confirmation process and spoke on the condition of anonymity to provide details on Caine’s nomination. Hegseth notably refused to meet with many Democrats when he was going through the confirmation process.
Because he retired in December, Caine would need to be sworn back into active duty. That would take place after he is confirmed, and then he would be promoted to four-star general, the official said.
Caine’s nomination following the ouster of Brown is likely to raise questions from some Democrats on the Senate Armed Services Committee about whether he will remain independent of Trump.
During Trump’s first term, his relationship with then-Chairman Gen. Mark Milley soured as Milley pushed back and took steps to try to prevent what he saw as an attempt to politicize the office, such as by reminding military service members they take an oath to the Constitution, not to a president.
The relationship soured to the extent that within hours of Trump being sworn in office in January, Milley’s portrait as chairman of the Joint Chiefs was removed from the Pentagon. Trump and Hegseth have subsequently stripped Milley of his security clearance and security detail.
Caine does not meet prerequisites laid out in a 1986 law, such as being a combatant commander or service chief. The law, however, allows presidents to waive those requirements to fill the position with someone they are most comfortable with.
While Caine would be the military’s top uniformed officer, his chief duty would be serving as the president’s top military adviser.
But Caine has spent time inside the Pentagon, leading its Special Access Programs Central Office, which oversees what classified information on weapons programs is shared with foreign governments.
He also served as the commander of the joint special operations task force in Iraq in 2008 and as the assistant commanding general of joint special operations command at Fort Bragg. From 2018 to 2019, he was the deputy commanding general of the special operations joint task force for Operation Inherent Resolve, countering the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria.
He also was associate director for military affairs at the CIA from 2021 until he retired in December.
Caine transferred into the National Guard in 2009 and began working in the private sector, including as an adviser at an investment firm run by the brother of Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law.
He has more than 2,800 flying hours in the F-16 and has earned the Distinguished Flying Cross and Bronze Star Medal with bronze oak leaf cluster, among other awards.
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