McConnell calls out Trump for hiring ‘amateur isolationists’ at Pentagon, firing NSA director

 https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5234058-mcconnell-trump-pentagon-nsa-criticism/

President Trump’s decisions to pick “amateur isolationists” for senior policy jobs at the Pentagon and to fire Gen. Timothy Haugh, the head of the National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command, without explanation.

“If decades of experience in uniform isn’t enough to lead the N.S.A. but amateur isolationists can hold senior policy jobs at the Pentagon, then what exactly are the criteria for working on this administration’s national security staff,” McConnell said in comments to The New York Times.

“I can’t figure it out,” he said.

McConnell and other Senate Republican defense hawks have signaled their concern about the Trump administration’s decisions to hire Michael DiMino to serve as deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East and Andrew Byers to serve as deputy assistant secretary of defense for South and Southeast Asia.