Lawmakers are still waiting on the Pentagon for more details about what happened between Donald Trump’s campaign and Arlington National Cemetery staff during last month’s memorial service for soldiers who died during the Afghanistan withdrawal. The Pentagon appears to be hoping the lawmakers just forget about it.
Department of Defense officials informally told at least one congressional office to let the issue fade into the background, a congressional aide told NOTUS, conveying the message that the Army wants to keep its distance from 2024’s political mudslinging. The aide said the Pentagon asked offices on both sides of the aisle to move on from the incident.
When reached for comment the Department of Defense referred NOTUS to the Department of the Army.
Trump attended a memorial ceremony with Gold Star families in August, where a member of his team got into an altercation with cemetery staff for filming the event. Cemetery rules forbid any campaign or overtly partisan activity on the grounds.
The Army confirmed the incident in a rare statement, saying, “An Arlington National Cemetery employee who attempted to ensure adherence to these rules was abruptly pushed aside.” The Trump campaign defended its actions; JD Vance said it was “not an insult to the memories of their loved ones; they wanted Donald Trump there.” The Trump team subsequently published campaign videos showing Trump laying wreaths alongside the Gold Star families, blaming the Biden-Harris administration for the soldiers’ deaths.
The altercation prompted congressional Democrats to request a copy of the incident report outlining what had happened. The official report hasn’t yet been released.
Publicly, the Pentagon has cited the Hatch Act and Army regulations since the incident, saying it was inappropriate to conduct any sort of political campaigning on any military installation. But their quiet appeal to at least one lawmaker’s office regarding the request for the full incident report shows the challenges the Department of Defense faces in the current political landscape.
Gold Star families have long played a role in U.S. politics and campaigns across the aisle — whether Khizr Khan, whose son died in the Iraq War and who became a prominent advocate for Hillary Clinton in 2016, or Trump’s reliance on the families of those who died in the Afghanistan withdrawal. It was those families who had invited him to the Arlington National Cemetery and had previously met with him.
“If you want to hear that politicians use heroes and victims for political purposes, the answer is, of course, they do, like they always have,” Rep. Darrell Issa said. “I don’t think we should try to pretend that we’re going to clean up the politics of people wrapping themselves in our nation’s flag. That ship is never coming back to the dock.”
But lawmakers across party lines don’t always agree with how these families are used in political messaging. And Trump’s past comments, in particular, like when he made fun of John McCain’s military record, have drawn criticisms from veterans groups and lawmakers. His most recent jokes about Medal of Honor recipients and the incident at the Arlington National Cemetery again thrust these questions into the forefront.
“I attended, along with a lot of others, in an encouraging way, in a bipartisan way, the Congressional Gold Medal ceremony for the 13 families,” Rep. Pat Ryan, a West Point graduate, said. “I did have to think to myself … how did the other families feel about that?”
Trump, Ryan said, uses Gold Star families “unfortunately, as sort of almost props that he can incorporate into campaign videos.”
“That is so far from how those families need to be treated,” he said. “That’s, of course, not to take away from the incredible loss and pain that every Gold Star family feels. I can’t even imagine, especially now as a dad, how painful and horrific that must be.”
That’s not how Republicans see the Trump campaign’s representation of Gold Star families.
“I don’t view that as political at all,” Rep. Derrick Van Orden, a former Navy SEAL, said of the families appearing onstage at the Republican National Convention and Trump’s attendance at Arlington. “The only way to change the behaviors of the Biden-Harris administration is to publicly shame them.”
But even among Republicans, there’s disagreement over how much former military officials should get involved in politics, especially in light of numerous retired high-ranking officers endorsing Kamala Harris.
“Seeing generals getting political, retired generals mostly, does concern me,” Issa said.
Rep. Jake Ellzey, a Naval Academy graduate who served for 20 years piloting helicopters and fighter jets, agreed.
“I do think that there ought to be a rule, hopefully, self-imposed, if you are honored enough to reach the rank of four-star,” Ellzey said. “That the only way you participate in politics is as a candidate, or without your rank next to your name.”
Whereas Rep. Cory Mills said it would be impossible to keep military officials from voicing their opinions.
“None of us can say, OK, just because you have certain stars or bars on your arm or stripes that you don’t have an opinion or a political preference,” he said. “I understand the idea of remaining apolitical, but we’re human, and we’re going to have our own preferences.”
The one exception to that rule was military service members in uniform making political comments, which members on both sides of the aisle said was unacceptable.“When your uniform’s off and you’re sitting there bullshitting with your buddies or going out, talk about all the politics you want, right?” said Rep. Jack Bergman, a retired general himself. “When you put your uniform on, talk about your training, your readiness.”
But even the military’s goal to be apolitical is starting to bend as politicians, like Trump at the Arlington cemetery, push the boundaries.
“I worry because the military has always been beyond politics. I still think we have that, but we have seen some erosion that is dangerous,” Rep. Salud Carbajal said. “Keeping our military sacred and devoid of this bullshit has certainly eroded.”
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John T. Seward is a NOTUS reporter and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow.