U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-HI) commended the U.S. military this week for being “the most capable in the world,” while also criticizing the Trump administration for not providing a “clear objective” and “moral justification” for the Iran war, noting it was launched without the support of the majority of Americans.
Schatz wrote on social media: “The American people aren’t pacifists but they are not idiots either.”
No one should ever doubt that the U.S. military is the most capable in the world, but wars must have a clear objective, a real pathway to achieve it, a legal and moral justification, and support from citizens. The American people aren’t pacifists but they are not idiots either.
— Brian Schatz (@brianschatz) May 24, 2026
Speculating on what the future might look like if his party gains control of the executive branch, Schatz added: “I’m not into blacklisting anyone from future work in their area of expertise but I do think it’s fair to want a whole new crop of foreign policy staffers in the next democratic administration. It’s not like the same 120 people are the only people who know anything.”
I’m not into black listing anyone from future work in their area of expertise but I do think it’s fair to want a whole new crop of foreign policy staffers in the next democratic administration. It’s not like the same 120 people are the only people who know anything.
— Brian Schatz (@brianschatz) May 24, 2026
Some Democrats responded positively to Schatz’s idea of expanding the pool of foreign policy talent, including former U.S. Representative Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (D-FL), who replied, “Agree Brian!”
Others suggested that eliminating experts simply because they served in the Biden and Obama administrations risked neglecting merit in favor of mere change for change’s sake.
Dave Vorland, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space & Missile Defense Policy during the Biden administration, replied to Schatz: “We should be able to actually vet people and decide who is best suited to serve. I have no idea who you could find who would be a better SecDef than Kath Hicks or Christine Wormuth. You would pass over them because they served under Biden? Be serious.”
[NOTE: During the Biden administration, Kathleen Hicks served as Deputy Secretary of Defense and Christine Wormuth served as U.S. Secretary of the Army.]
We should be able to actually vet people and decide who is best suited to serve. I have no idea who you could find who would be a better SecDef than Kath Hicks or Christine Wormuth. You would pass over them because they served under Biden? Be serious.
— Dave Vorland (@DaveV15) May 25, 2026
Political strategist Steve Schale, former State Director for the 2008 Obama presidential campaign in Florida, saw merit in Schatz’s suggestion, saying specifically: “Would be nice to have some who understand the Caribbean and Latin America from the exile perspective, instead of just the Ivy League diplomacy schools.”
Would be nice to have some who understand the Caribbean and Latin America from the exile perspective, instead of just the Ivy League diplomacy schools
— Steve Schale (@steveschale) May 24, 2026
Libertarian Daniel McAdams, executive director of the Ron Paul Institute, also responded to Schatz, writing: “Purge the neocons from the Republican and Democratic parties. They are the ones who keep screwing everything up.”
Purge the neocons from the Republican and Democratic parties. They are the ones who keep screwing everything up.
— Daniel McAdams (@DanielLMcAdams) May 24, 2026
Schatz’s suggestion — and its implication that narrow political lanes, leading to repeated errors, might be broadened by new players — appealed, as McAdams’s comment indicates, to critics on both sides of the aisle.
Alongside numerous comments excoriating Trump’s foreign policy decisions, critics also responded with pointedly negative takes on the tenures of Biden-era officials, including former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, former Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and former National Security Council Middle East coordinator Brett McGurk, who led negotiations between the United States, Israel, Egypt, and Qatar to establish a ceasefire in Gaza and secure the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas.