Washington: So, it’s Friday, and officials are still scratching their heads about who will be the acting defense secretary when Trump takes over. With all the top leaders stepping down on Inauguration Day, it’s a bit of a scramble.
Right now, the military chiefs of the Army, Navy, and Air Force are gearing up to step in as acting secretaries. It’s not common, but it’s happening because no civilians have been named yet, and some have even turned down the job.
As usual, all political appointees will leave by noon on Inauguration Day, leaving a bunch of key defense positions open. This includes the top job and all three service secretaries, along with their deputies and senior staff.
The Senate Armed Services Committee is set to vote on Trump’s pick for Defense Secretary, Pete Hegseth, but the full Senate might take a few days to weigh in. So, someone from the Biden administration might have to step in temporarily.
For the service secretaries, it looks like Gen. Randy George, the Army’s chief of staff, is in the running to take over temporarily. Gen. David Allvin from the Air Force and Adm. Lisa Franchetti from the Navy are also on standby, just in case no civilian is named.
Some senior leaders from the Biden administration are hesitant to join the Trump team, worried about the policy changes they might have to deal with. Typically, only Senate-confirmed individuals serve as defense or service secretaries, even in an acting role.
It’s a big deal to have civilian control over the military, but the law allows military chiefs to take over temporarily. This has happened before, but it’s pretty rare.
Arnold Punaro, a retired Marine Corps general, recalled a similar situation back in 1993 when Adm. Frank Kelso had to step in as acting Navy secretary because no civilians were available.
Usually, the transition to a new defense secretary is pretty smooth. For instance, during Biden’s inauguration, the deputy secretary of defense under Trump stepped in for a couple of days until Lloyd Austin was confirmed.
Different administrations have handled these transitions in various ways. Sometimes, they ask people to stay on temporarily, especially when it comes to managing the budget.
This year’s transition is trickier because both Trump and Hegseth have talked about wanting to remove what they call “woke” generals. This could create gaps in military leadership that need to be filled.
When Sen. Elissa Slotkin asked Hegseth if he planned to fire the current Joint Chiefs chairman, Gen. CQ Brown, he said all senior officers would be reviewed based on their performance. Hegseth has previously suggested that Brown should be let go, and conservative groups have their own lists of generals they want to see fired.