JCS vs. Congress, Simplified; Cabinet Announced

Day 1,232, 22:19 • Published in USA USA • by Gnilraps


Morning Edition
Day 1,232 of the New World
TOP STORY: White House Chief of Staff Teucer Announces (nearly) Full Cabinet
April-May 2011 Cabinet:

President: Emerick
Vice President: Leroy Combs
National Security Adviser: Alexander Hamilton
Grand Viziette: Claire Littleton
Chief of Staff: Teucer
Deputy Chiefs of Staff: Agent Washington, ArcNox
Secretary Defense: Avruch
Deputy Secretaries: DeyoZero, Cerb
OMS: Vanek26
AA: Zyria
MoFA: Laxsnor
Deputies: Stuart Shepard and Blank Keating
Advisers: Alexandr Sunbeliver III, TTi09
Secretary of State: jelly9473
Deputies: JLake4
Director of Central Intelligence Agency: Rod Damon
Secretary of Treasury: Evry
Deputy: chesehead
Secretary of the Interior: CRoy
Deputies: jerseygirldani
Secretary of Education: Blank Keating
Deputy: None yet
Secretary of Media: Civil Anarchy
Director of the Pony Express: Robbert Loggia
Secretary of Technology: Qnfauf
Deputy Secretary of Technology: liek12
Advisors: Publius, Cerb

Congress Freezes already Icy Relationship with CJCS

By now most of eUSA has heard that there is a conflict between Congress and the Military. 16 Shells has been provided with stacks of documents to review. Several of these documents have already been leaked publicly. Several others have not been leaked and were passed along to the 16 Shells TipLine (erepublik dot tips dot anonymous at gmail dot com).

What I am going to lay out here is a simplified version of what is going on. I will avoid editorial. I will also avoid names. I will lay out the nature of the conflict so that you will be informed.

A prior sitting Congress passed the following Amendment to the Constitution making it Law:

The Joint Chiefs of Staff shall be composed of the Commanding Officers, Executive Officers, the Chairman, and the Vice-Chairman of the Joint Chiefs

Abbreviations:
Joint Chiefs of Staff: JCS
Commanding Officers: CO
Executive Officers: XO
Chairman: CJCS

In the words of one congressman, "This wording has ignited the war between the CJCS and Congress. The CJCS has stated the branch executive officers do not need JCS masking. The CJCS is given the responsibility of running the military and appointing leaders." (emphasis mine)

The Military has 6 Branch XO's: Training Corps, National Guard, Mobile Infantry, Army, Airborne, and Marine Corps.

These 6 spots are at the center of the controversy. Under the new law, these 6 XO's would fall under the JCS umbrella. This gives them a voting voice when it comes to electing or retaining a CJCS. The CJCS is elected by the JCS alone. Once they they are officially JCS, they each also get a vote in setting Military-wide policy.

The current CJCS will not hold a vote to give these XO's JCS access.

Congress, meanwhile, has begun exploring its options to bring CJCS in compliance with the constitutional amendment. Options being discussed include impeachment of CJCS, cutting off military funding through JCS, and replacing the JCS architecture with a Ministry of Defense model.

Congress has already acted by freezing spending via Speaker of the House + 10 vote rule. The remainder of Congress is debating their votes even now on continuing this freeze.

Even as Congress has acted to freeze Military spending, the CJCS has vowed to continue business as usual without the assistance of Federal Funds. This is why you are hearing that the CJCS has "privatized" the eUS Military.

Keep watch as this story continues to unfold.
In other news:
Emerick won the Presidency. He held 50% or more of the vote all day and there was very little drama. Voting up over last election by over 400 votes.
16 Shells looks forward to following the Emerick Administration.
Just as importantly, before even taking office President-Elect Emerick has addressed the conflict outlined above. His solution in short is to place the existing JCS structure under his Secretary of Defense, immediately recommission the entire eUS Military placing them on similar ground with the Militias, and offer to remove any JCS who continues to refuse to play ball. Asses have been kicked.

Notice how tidily President Emerick's solution binds up any past problems with Owls wanting Federal Funds but fighting in non-Federal conflicts. 16 Shells invites the Owls to kick some ONE ass too.
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