Free Republic

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has formally terminated the service of every member sitting on the Department of Defense’s advisory committees. Based on the information available on the website as of Thursday, the now-defunct panels included several well-known Democrats and Bush-era Republicans. Janine Davidson (Chair) – Former Under Secretary of the Navy under Obama. A staunch Democrat and longtime proponent of Obama-era military reforms, now steering Pentagon policy advice. Michèle Flournoy – Held major Pentagon roles under Clinton and Obama; often discussed as a potential Secretary of Defense under Hillary Clinton or Biden. Colin Kahl – National Security Advisor to...

The U.S. ambassador to Qatar, an Obama administration holdover whose family donated hundreds of thousands to the Obama campaign, signaled her distaste for working under President Donald Trump, raising questions about her commitment to the new administration. Dana Shell Smith, the U.S. ambassador for Qatar who was appointed by former President Barack Obama, took to Twitter last week to express her frustration at Trump's administration, which has been battling negative headlines over a plethora of foreign and domestic issues. "The problem is that the Obama administration left holdovers all over the government, so you get rid of one Obama loyalist...

The U.S. Ambassador to Qatar took a direct swipe at President Trump, seemingly over his firing of FBI Director James Comey. “Increasingly difficult to wake up overseas to news from home, knowing I will spend today explaining our democracy and institutions,” Dana Shell Smith wrote on Twitter late Tuesday. Trump had fired Comey just hours earlier.(TWEET-AT-LINK) Smith, a career diplomat, was nominated to the ambassadorship in 2014 and confirmed the same year. Federal Election Commission records show she donated $1,000 on eight separate occasions to Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign. She also recently expressed support for former Acting Attorney General...