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Senate moves to empower Pentagon's policy chief as enforcer

Defense News: The Senate Armed Services Committee wants to strengthen the Pentagon’s policy office, increasing its role internally as the enforcer of major strategy decisions.

The SASC’s proposed version of the National Defense Authorization Act, which it approved Thursday, features language designed to help the undersecretary of defense for policy (USD-P) regain some of the power and responsibilities it has ceded to the Joint Staff in recent years.

The policy role is a key job that serves as both facilitator of the secretary’s will inside the department and his representative outside the building. While conscious that the external facing role must remain, the SASC is looking to hone the office’s attention back onto the internal challenges of wrangling big-picture strategy questions into place.

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