Washington DC -
The Council on Foreign Relations met this evening with the six service chiefs. The first order of business was to discuss among the most significant national security threats facing the United States - the global consequences of a first-ever default on the national debt.
Amateur politicians are playing with fire while grandstanding this issue. Coast Guard Commandant Linda Fagan said in that context, “Anything that creates instability casts doubt on our ability to get the job done.” She and many of the chiefs said this includes not “paying our service members,” which would happen in a default scenario.
The Space Force Chief B. Chance Saltzman said that, “Financial stability creates credibility” and that credibility is the sine qua non of effective power projection. He added that, “In an era of great power competition, it’s a battle of narratives” and “failed narratives hurt us” including debt defaults.
Chief of Naval Operations Michael Gilday spoke of the “catastrophic potential” of defaulting on our national debt and, I would add, the considerable risks of taking the negotiations to the precipice simply for political theater.
Army Chief James McConville summed up the lunacy of not paying our troops in any default scenario. He quoted the wife of a service member who said, “They say we’ll get paid retroactively but our kids can’t eat retroactively.”
With children in mind, the worst of the politicians might want to listen to these adults in the room.
