More upheaval at Pentagon policy shop as top official steps down

A top Pentagon official is stepping down this spring, bringing more upheaval to the department’s policy shop as the Biden administration struggles to confirm top civilian officials.

Acting Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Sasha Baker is departing the Pentagon to spend more time with her family, according to a senior DOD official and a DOD spokesperson, both of whom were granted anonymity to speak ahead of an announcement. Baker has a 14-month-old, and was asked to become the acting policy chief last summer just months after returning from maternity leave.

Amanda Dory, a career civil servant and currently the director of the Africa Center of Strategic Studies at National Defense University, will replace Baker in the role, according to the spokesperson. After this story first appeared Monday morning, Pentagon spokesperson Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder confirmed the news to reporters.

Baker, as the acting undersecretary of defense for policy, is the senior adviser to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin for all Pentagon policy affairs, overseeing issues such as support to Ukraine and the Middle East buildup after the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel.

The news comes as the Pentagon is struggling to confirm its remaining nominees for top civilian jobs, including President Joe Biden’s pick to run the policy office. Baker has filled the position since last July, after Colin Kahl, Biden’s only confirmed official in that job, left office.

The nominee to be the next undersecretary for policy, Derek Chollet, has faced backlash from Republicans in Congress over his involvement in the Afghanistan evacuation, the Pentagon’s abortion travel policy and other issues. GOP senators tore into Chollet, a former State Department official, during his September confirmation hearing over Afghanistan, as well as his previous comments defending former President Barack Obama, for calling the security threat at the southern border “preposterous” and for saying the Army “is a pretty bubba-oriented system.” His nomination continues to remain in limbo in the Senate.

The policy shop has lost several key officials since Kahl stepped down. In December, POLITICO first reported the departure of Mara Karlin, who was confirmed as the assistant secretary for strategy, plans and capabilities but had been performing the duties of the deputy policy chief since Kahl departed.

Meanwhile, Melissa Dalton, who took on the No. 2 policy job in an acting role after Karlin left, could also soon leave. Last week, the Senate Armed Services Committee advanced her nomination to be undersecretary of the Air Force. She now awaits a vote by the full Senate.