WASHINGTON, D.C. – Representative Adam Smith (D-Wash.), Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, today issued the following statement after the White House announced the firing of Secretary of Defense Mark Esper via tweet, destabilizing the Pentagon ahead of the Presidential transition.

“In the national security community, it is well known that periods of presidential transition leave our country exposed to unique threats. Until President-Elect Biden is sworn into office next January, it is imperative that the Pentagon remain under stable, experienced leadership.

“Dismissing politically appointed national security leaders during a transition is a destabilizing move that will only embolden our adversaries and put our country at greater risk. President Trump’s decision to fire Secretary Esper out of spite is not just childish, it’s also reckless. It has long been clear that President Trump cares about loyalty above all else, often at the expense of competence, and during a period of presidential transition competence in government is of the utmost importance.”

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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Representative Adam Smith (D-Wash.) issued the following statement after the United States Senate voted to confirm Amy Coney Barrett as the newest Justice on the Supreme Court.

“Senate Republicans just took the unprecedented action of confirming President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee just days before the election. This confirmation is further evidence that Republicans are putting politics ahead of the people. Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation to the highest court in the land is a direct threat to the Affordable Care Act, protections for people with pre-existing conditions, civil rights, election security, reproductive rights, LGBTQ rights, the environment, and more. American families and businesses desperately need a COVID-19 relief bill, not a Supreme Court Justice whose career reflects a willingness to strip these rights, protections, and health care they need in the middle of a pandemic.

“Nine months before the 2016 election, Senate Majority Leader McConnell said that a Supreme Court nominee should not be appointed and confirmed during an election year. Yet mere weeks before the 2020 election, Senate Republicans decided that they must confirm the late Justice Ginsburg’s replacement. Senate Republicans purported to act on principle when they refused even to grant Judge Garland a hearing—if there was ever any doubt, we now know definitively that they are more than willing to abandon principle when it no longer suits them.

“President Trump’s moral bankruptcy is on full display in his latest power grab to secure a place for ‘his’ Justice on the Supreme Court. The President and the Republican Party’s refusal to confront the virus, protect our country, and provide relief for the American people is rooted in that same moral bankruptcy. We have no national plan for testing, tracing, treatment, mask-wearing, and social distancing. We cannot safely reopen our schools and economy. Despite Republican efforts to distract from their capitulation to the virus by rushing to confirm Justice Barrett, I will continue to fight alongside my colleagues to deliver relief for the American people.”

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