Army secretary knocks ‘overly bureaucratic’ military response procedures in wake of Capitol rioting

Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy is faulting Pentagon bureaucracy in the wake of deadly rioting at the U.S. Capitol and criticism of the military’s response to the siege.

“There’s too many people that are involved with the decision, and ultimately no one, one single person responsible,” McCarthy said in a Monday interview with CNN. “It makes it very difficult and slow in the response.”

McCarthy called for a revamp of what he described as “almost arcane and overly bureaucratic” procedures for calling the National Guard into Washington, D.C. Hours passed between when violent mobs of President Trump’s supporters breached the Capitol and when the Guard was activated.

“You saw a lot of people run into friction in support of the Capitol Hill police” while coordinating the response, McCarthy said. “It came far too close. Something like this should never happen. This country has the talent and the resources to do anything. But the pre-planning and coordination and the intelligence were not really managed well, and we were not in a position to be successful that day as a country.”

McCarthy described “tremendous confusion” among the military and law enforcement during the riots, admitting he “didn’t have great understanding” of the situation on the ground even as he “ran down the hall” to seek authorization to deploy the Guard. McCarthy also said the military had not been asked to help in the lead-up to the incident, compounding the confusion.

Defense officials have denied allegations that anyone at the Pentagon denied requests for aid. A senior Pentagon official said the response was delayed because the department only received a request stating “We need help” with no further details, according to CNN.

The interview comes amid heightened scrutiny around President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration Wednesday. Members of the Guard arriving to provide security are undergoing vetting due to fears of possible insider attacks, although acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller has said there is no intelligence on specific plots.

“We are working with federal law enforcement to vet our people, obviously ones in particular supporting this operation,” McCarthy told the network. “But you would do that in most cases.”