Soldier Secretary: More Opinions About How To Rototill And Replant The Military

thehill  |  In November 2020, Miller was appointed by Trump to be the acting secretary of Defense, just two months before the Capitol riot.

In the leadup to what became an attempted insurrection, Miller helped organize the D.C. National Guard, which eventually helped quell the thousands of pro-Trump rioters who stormed the Capitol in a bid to stop the certification of the 2020 election.

Miller says Jan. 6 was “embarrassing” and concedes that Trump’s actions on that day were not helpful, but pulls up short of condemning his former boss’s behavior. 

“It’s beyond comprehension to me the way they created this narrative,” Miller says of the claims that Trump was responsible for the violence that day. “I’ll totally let the courts figure this one out. If there’s new information I would change my mind. I stand by my comments that he was absolutely not helpful … [but] the politics of this has spun out of control.”

The career military man takes a notably both-sides view of the growing partisanship that defines American politics. He writes that culture wars are “splitting Americans into warring factions” and empowering China and Russia, but doesn’t place particular blame on either party. 

How does Miller propose to overcome this? 

For one, require every American to serve with the AmeriCorps program to bring citizens together, with the option to serve through the military or an agency like the National Park Service. Two, secure the border with military force to stop cartels from flooding American streets with illicit drugs. And three, upgrade the nation’s nuclear arsenal to serve as a deterrence. 

Miller also offers a series of reforms to the military, from holding military leaders accountable to creating a leaner and more nimble fighting force to slashing the Pentagon’s nearly trillion-dollar budget in half.

House Republicans have tabled defense cuts as part of negotiations over the debt ceiling, but largely focused on “woke” programs like diversity training that make up a tiny fraction of overall spending. 

Progressive lawmakers have long been critical of bloated defense spending, but Miller doesn’t think Congress is quite ready to meet in the middle anytime soon.

“There’s no incentive to reduce military spending,” he says. “I think there’s whispers, but [we need] someone with the courage and experience to get in there and force it.”