CABINET ADOPTS “NOT IT” PROTOCOL TO SELECT IRAN WAR FALL GUY; THE SWORD IS ALREADY ON THE TABLE
The White House confirmed this week that responsibility for the Iran war will be assigned under the administration’s standing accountability procedure, known to participants as Not It, under which the last cabinet official to place an index finger on his or her nose accepts the blame in full. Officials described the process as structured, deliberative, and ongoing.
The procedure was invoked following Tuesday’s midterm elections, in which Democrats retook the House and the Senate, and after NBC exit polling found that 63 percent of voters believed the United States made the wrong decision in attacking Iran. “The reason we lost is the war,” Vice President Vance said Wednesday. He did not specify whose war it was. Under the rules, he is not required to. He is required to touch his nose.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, identified by Republican lawmakers as the leading candidate to hold the sword, has maintained an index finger on his nose since the returns began coming in Tuesday night, a posture aides describe as readiness. He has since conducted briefings and a television appearance without breaking contact. Asked whether the conduct of the war was his responsibility, Mr. Hegseth called the conflict “a courageous and historic effort.” The President has said he has “every intention” of keeping Mr. Hegseth in his post. He has also taken calls, officials say, on whether he should. Both positions remain in effect. So does the finger.
The uniformed military does not play. General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Admiral Brad Cooper, who commands American forces in the Middle East, are exempt from the procedure and may instead be handed the sword directly — an arrangement one analyst called “the cheap option,” since it “looks decisive without conceding that the war itself was the mistake.” The sword, a ceremonial saber purchased from a Virginia antiques dealer for $4,700 and expensed as ceremonial, has rested on a folded cloth at the center of the cabinet table since Wednesday. No one has touched it. Officials have been careful about what they touch.
The procedure has since stalled on questions of form. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who holds several offices in the government at once, reports a finger on his nose in each of them, which officials concede makes him difficult to eliminate. A ruling is pending on whether a finger applied by a senior aide is valid; the aide’s finger was withdrawn upon a determination that it was a staff finger. Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky has notified the administration that if it cannot conclude the procedure itself, Congress will conclude it for them, and a vote on Mr. Hegseth’s impeachment is expected next week. The White House has objected to outside interference in an internal process. Mr. Massie, as a member of the House, is not eligible to play. He appears to be playing anyway.
“Not It is the oldest accountability mechanism in American public life,” said Dr. Marcia Hale, professor of political science and director of the Institute for Civic Reconciliation at Kestrel State University, and a staff political consultant to this newspaper. “It has a single rule: it cannot be called upward. The man who ordered the war does not play. He provides the sword, and he watches.”
As of Sunday, the position of fall guy remained unfilled. The war is in its ninth month; the game is in its fifth day. The White House says the process will take as long as it takes, and notes that the Secretary’s finger is holding up well. Officials familiar with both timelines expect the game to outlast the war.
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