Eric
Schmidt, chief executive of Google parent company Alphabet, was appointed
chairman of a Department of Defense program in 2016 that was established by
former President Barack Obama’s administration.
A
staunch supporter of the Democratic Party and critic of President Donald Trump,
Schmidt still continues to lead the Defense Innovation Board (DIB), even well
after the new administration took over in January. This begs the question:
should Schmidt’s history of partisan advocacy and condemnation of Trump be a
worrisome prospect for the current White House?
Regardless
of the answer, Trump’s retention of Schmidt may be emblematic of more than
political divisiveness within the current administration, like from “Obama holdovers.” In
fact, it may be the opposite of unwanted internal discord and a sign of an
underlying ethos for the Trump administration — diversity of thought.
“When
you look at the composition of the initial Economic Advisory Board, it kind of
reminds me of what Trump is doing here,” Justin Danhof, general counsel of
the National Center for Public Policy Research and director of the Free
Enterprise Project, told The Daily Caller News Foundation. “He’s putting
together a team of rivals. If you want to get to the best ideas, you can’t have
everyone in the room thinking the same thing.”
Alphabet announced on
Thursday that Schmidt will be stepping down in January, marking the seeming end
to a 17-year-career at Google and its parent company. It’s quite likely that he
will maintain economic and personal interests in the business, especially since
he’s expected to stay on as a member of Alphabet’s board of directors and serve
as an adviser.
The
DIB was formally created in March 2016, and former Secretary of Defense Ash
Carter later announced that
Schmidt would be heading the organization. Other specifically chosen board
members include famous astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, LinkedIn cofounder
Reid Hoffman, Wharton School of Business professor Dr. Adam Grant, Instagram
COO Marne Levine, University of Texas chancellor and former Special
Operations Command commander Navy Adm. William McRaven, among several others.
Some,
like David Williams, president of the Taxpayers Protection Alliance, saw
Schmidt’s taking of the helm as somewhat disconcerting given the “open-door
policy” the Obama administration allegedly had with one of the country’s most
powerful companies.
“There
needs to be a massive amount of oversight with this Board,” Williams told
TheDCNF. “If the DOD is contemplating new technology to address a new defense
need, will it be skewed toward a technology that benefits Google or one of the
companies? Massive potential for conflicts of interest with real taxpayer
implications.”
And
it’s not just personal business affairs that are concerning to some — Schmidt’s
own brand of politics could conceivably come into play, whether intentionally
or subconsciously. He was spotted wearing a staff badge during
then-Democratic candidate for president Hillary Clinton’s election night party.
Not long after, Schmidt reportedly told an audience of
employees that Trump is “going to do these evil things as they’ve done in the
immigration area and perhaps some others.”
In
correlation with his statements to employees, Alphabet also reportedly spearheaded the funding efforts for
the legal brief signed by nearly 100 companies that objected to Trump’s
temporary immigration ban. (RELATED: Google-Funded Think Tank
Fires Analyst For Criticizing Google, Says Report)
But
due to the work of the DIB — which mainly centers around projects likemodernizing military
bases and ensuring defense systems are sufficiently up to date — it appears
that personal politics likely has a minimal impact.
“The
Defense Innovation Board is focused on supporting the Department of Defense on
issues, such as AI, data analytics, software acquisition, and shaping the
culture of the DOD workforce. These issues know no partisan boundaries,”
Navy Cmdr. Patrick Evans, who does press operations for the Pentagon, told
TheDCNF. “DOD cares about enhancing lethality, strengthening alliances and
partnerships, and reforming the Department. DIB is about advancing the
Department and serving the American public, not politics.”
Google
declined to comment on the record and referred TheDCNF to the DOD for any
statements or insight.
A
top representative for Google was sure to add, though, that Schmidt serves on
the board in a personal respect, separate from his work at Alphabet or its
subsidiaries.
Conversely,
Schmidt could arguably be more than a good fit for the DIB given its
overarching goals.
The
program “seeks to advise the department on areas that are deeply familiar to
Silicon Valley companies, such as rapid prototyping, iterative product
development, complex data analysis in business decision making, and
organizational information sharing,” Evans explains. “Then-Secretary Carter
selected the board to represent a cross-section of America’s most innovative
industries, drawing on technical and management expertise from across the
country.”
Furthermore,
Alphabet is a tech conglomerate that, along with other functions, serves as a
corporate umbrella for several subsidiaries including Google. Most notably,
Alphabet includes X lab,
which serves as an incubator for startups, meaning the larger holding company
also acts as a hub for technological research and development.
Williams
says that “the idea of the DIB isn’t a bad one” because updating the
government’s services and infrastructure is needed.
“The
only concern is that there’s too much of an emphasis on tinkering rather than
fundamental reforms, like ending big failing spending programs,” he added,
implying that innovation may distract from more necessary changes, like deep
cuts to costly expenditures.
Danhof
says the DIB is a great idea, even with the prospect of it backfiring for Trump
if board members resign out of political protest.
“If
you think about how laggard the U.S. government is when it comes to innovation
and technology breakthroughs, if you look at the backlog that’s at the VA
[Department of Veteran Affairs], if Eric Schmidt could do even one thing to
improve something like that, then I think that this should be cheered as a great
success,” Danhof asserted. “President Trump should be cheered for thinking
outside the box and going with someone who has spoken out against him, who is a
political rival in a sense in that he supports the other party full lock,
stock, and barrel. Trump is willing to look past all of that to try to find the
best people to help this government operate better.”
While
also commending Obama for the board’s creation, Danhof said having Schmidt stay
on the board is a true sign of Trump’s acute business acumen since any
good business operator or owner doesn’t hire people merely because they think
the same way and are likable.
“You
hire someone who’s the best person for the job,” Danhof continued. “If it’s how
we technologically innovate, why wouldn’t you think of one of the founders of
Google, even if he is against you in almost everything you say, think, or do in
a political standpoint?”
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