President, Donald Trump, has nominated Mark T. Esper to occupy the position of the Secretary of Defense, replacing the interim secretary, Patrick Shanahan, reports The Associated Press
The announcement comes in a circumstance in which tension has increased in the relations between the United States and Iran.
After the downing of an unmanned US aircraft in the Strait of Hormuz by an Iranian surface-to-air missile this week and the attack on a Norwegian and Japanese freighter carrying fuel the previous week, Congress pressured the White House to choose a leader in the Pentagon.
“With everything that happens in Iran and all the provocations and counter-actions, and not having a secretary of defense at the moment is appalling,” said Chuck Schumer, a Democratic senator from New York. “It shows chaos in this administration, they have many empty positions, revolving doors, in the most sensitive security positions.”
Shanahan had entered the position temporarily on May 9, 2019, after the surprise letter of resignation of Secretary Jim Mattis criticizing the way of seeing the president’s world.
On Tuesday, Shanahan announced that he would not accept the nomination as Secretary of Defense, alleging family problems.
Tensions with Iran increased rapidly this week . Tehran announced that it was breaking the commitments it made under the agreement that restricts its nuclear ambitions, an agreement that Trump withdrew last year.
After the demolition of the drone, Trump ordered an attack in retaliation, which he canceled 10 minutes earlier, according to the president.
As the situation became more dangerous this week, acting defense secretary Patrick Shanahan resigned and said he wanted to spare his family a public broadcast of domestic problems related to his messy divorce nearly a decade ago , The Associated reported. Press .
Trump said months ago that he would appoint Shanahan to the defense position and seek his confirmation in the Senate, but he never did.
Trump immediately appointed Esper as the new interim secretary , but due to the limitations set in judicial decisions and legislation governing how major vacancies are covered, he may only serve for six weeks.
Within the Pentagon, lawyers are debating how to get Esper through a difficult legal and congressional confirmation process. Defense officials said on Thursday they had yet to find a clear path to advance.
For the moment, both Shanahan and Esper have attended the White House and other meetings and participated in debates on how to respond to the destruction of Iran by the drone.
Esper is expected to assume the position of acting defense secretary at midnight on Sunday , then leave on Tuesday for a meeting of NATO defense ministers.
While lawmakers have expressed their initial support for Esper, well known in Washington and previously a member of the committees as legislative staff, there is no guarantee that he will get fast approval.