Posted on 02/14/2017 10:03:32 AM PST by SeekAndFind
Rattled by the chaos surrounding the Michael Flynn scandal at the White House? A new report from the Washington Post about his replacement gives two reasons for optimism in the days ahead, assuming it’s accurate, of course. First, the man who has risen to the top of the shortlist, Vice Admiral Robert Harward, has served under Defense Secretary James Mattis and is known to be a Mattis ally. Second, the man who’s working on the selection is the one who just got burned by Flynn:
Vice President Pence has been leading the discussions and working closely with Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, Homeland Security Security John F. Kelly, CIA director Mike Pompeo, White House senior adviser Jared Kushner, chief strategist Stephen K. Bannon and Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, the officials said.
Harward served under Mattis while he was at U.S. Central Command and remains an ally and friend of the defense secretary.
The officials said Harward, who has been under consideration as a possible undersecretary of defense for intelligence, is seen by key players around Trump as a steady pick for the post following the tumult that surrounded Flynn.
Pence is running the selection process? That’s a curious development, although not necessarily a strange one. Pence took over the transition team too, but that was from Chris Christie, and that was a role that incoming presidents always delegate to someone else. As president, though, one would think that the selection of a national security adviser would be made by the person to whom that office would report. Perhaps this is a concession to Pence after he got personally burned by Flynn, but Flynn’s ouster seems to have also been a concession to Pence.
If this is an example of Pence flexing his muscle within the administration, it might not be a one-off. Yesterday, Politico ran what seems now to be an all-too-prescient profile of the Pence team and its mission of stability within the party and government:
But as the Trump administration takes shape, Vice President Mike Pence has used his position atop the transition team and in the White House to install conservative allies throughout several agencies and at almost every level of government, giving the government a more orthodox cast. …
Pence and his team bring an entirely different ethos and set of values to the administration. The vice president’s emphasis on limited government and his conservative social views are distinct from the America First-style populism of Trump or top advisers like Steve Bannon, creating a divide that could influence policymaking on health care, education and social issues.
Members of Pence’s tight-knit inner circle, such as longtime aide Josh Pitcock, now Pence’s chief of staff, hold key positions both in Pence’s office and across the Trump administration. Ex-Hill aide Marc Short is the White House’s liaison to Congress, and Pence political advisers Nick Ayers and Marty Obst are helping to run Trump’s new nonprofit political arm, which was created to boost the president’s agenda, and brought on Pence’s nephew, John Pence, as deputy executive director. …
Former employees interviewed by POLITICO describe Pence as a manager who values humility, self-discipline and employees who follow marching orders.
Putting Pence in charge of the replacement process here should result in a more disciplined choice, and one that fits more within the rest of the Trump administration’s national-security mold. That should help restore confidence in the administration, and perhaps give an early demonstration of Trump’s interest in delegating some tasks to his VP that other presidents would normally handle themselves.
The fallout from Flynn may not be entirely over yet, either. The New York Times reported that K.T. McFarland may also be out, and that Gen. Keith Kellogg isn’t likely to beat Harward to the job:
Administration officials said it was unlikely that Mr. Kellogg would be asked to stay on as Mr. Flynn’s permanent replacement. Mr. Flynn brought Mr. Kellogg into the Trump campaign, according to a former campaign adviser, and the two have remained close. K. T. McFarland, the deputy national security adviser who also was brought on by Mr. Flynn, is expected to leave that role, a senior official said.
One person close to the administration, who was not authorized to discuss the personnel moves and spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that retired Vice Admiral Robert S. Harward is the leading candidate to replace Mr. Flynn, although Mr. Kellogg and David H. Petraeus are being discussed. It was not clear whether Mr. Petraeus is still expected to appear at the White House this week, as initially discussed by advisers to the president.
Flynn’s departure is likely to have a number of secondary aftershocks, and that’s yet another good reason to have Pence take on the task of replacing him. Pence will be better at anticipating those, and acting to minimize them.
Yea, get rid of everyone who thinks that NATO needs to be reformed or that the Russian shift is a brilliant move and fill the administration with hawks who obviously have something to gain with continued conflict with the Russian and placid support of Islam
Excellent.
I trust this man. He is a SEAL.
All this palace intrigue is killing me. Shouldn’t Pence be Trump’s right hand man?
WELL seals DEFINATELY know how to keep secrets, I am getting to a point where I feel Trump is ALONE trying to fight this battle!!! Who the HELL can he trust????
No
Don’t trust pence
I’m thinking you and I should go back there and protect President Trump...at least we know they wouldn’t hurt him in any way...
You bring your friends, and I’ll bring my biker buddies and we’ll ‘bug out’ the White House; DOJ; CIA; NSA; Pentagon, and other places...one bug, and the person is hung in the ‘town square’...
I want to know if the president’s phone is tapped. Id NSA and CIA tapping the phones of this administration? That is illegal!!!Who is doing this????
One note of caution: How much control is Trump ceding to Pence and will that change the character of the Administration?
Pence is building his “House of Cards”. Don’t trust him Trump. Just use him to pass your agenda in Congress. Nothing more! (He’s not even doing that well as obamacare still exists)
Hayward looks like a solid non-neo-con choice.
It’s the Presidents National,Security Advisor
Not the Vice Presidents
Especially a former governor of Indiana
I hope this report is wrong and Trump,is not as weak and unsure as this makes him sound
Pence has said some disturbing wrongheaded establishment lingo stuff about Russia that makes him sound just like a McCain- Graham stooge
“I trust this man. He is a SEAL”
The more I read, the more I think this guy will be a good addition. Flynn, while a straight shooter and the leaks are really a problem, walked himself right into the situation.....
He knew Russia/Trump was an issue from the campaign
He knew NSA would be tapping him
And, he knew there are people in the NSA/CIA who want to bring Trump down.
He knew he was already a marked man before the call.
What else do you need to know NOT TO MAKE THE CALL! There was nothing that was needed to be said on the call that could not wait a few weeks. You have to wonder what kind of man, given his responsibilities, would be so cavalier as to place Trump in this position. Flynn, you could have been a star but you blew it and you hurt Trump.
It appears the President has tired of winning already. Shame, it was fun for a few weeks.
“Pence has said some disturbing wrongheaded establishment lingo stuff about Russia that makes him sound just like a McCain- Graham stooge”
I’m not a big Pence fan, and thought that he completely undercut Trump at the VP debate, as you point out above. Moreover, from the same debate, I also sensed that Pence is a bit of an intellectual lightweight.
He may be a good man otherwise, but if Trump were out of the picture, would Pence keep Trump’s promises on immigration, trade, foreign policy and the like? I am not so sure.
We don’t need Bush 2.0 making policy decisions.
All that was known by the major players, before Flynn's confirmation.
All the more reason this looks like a rope-a-dope move to smoke out some leakers.
I’ve never known a single SEAL, SWCC or Ranger who I would not trust to keep anything from leaking.
Mr. Trump is not “ceding” control to Mr. Pence, he is delegating authority as required to meet his needs. He likely thinks that the VP will provide quality candidates for the position.
I am always fascinated by the reports of intrigues within an administration. All of these White House officials (save the VP, who is elected) serve at the pleasure of the President. Their power and influence depend primarily upon the President’s satisfaction with how they perform.
Even the VP could be frozen out and replaced at the next election.
Lt. Gen. Flynn resigned because Mr. Trump lost confidence in him. I get the impression that the President likes and trusts the Vice President, and was unhappy that his Nat’l Security Advisor was not completely honest with the VP.
I am not Mr. Trump’s biggest fan, his style grates on me frequently. However, I never doubted his managerial and leadership abilities. He is in charge, not the VP or the staff.
>>.one bug, and the person is hung in the ‘town square’...
*********************************************************
Their behaviors so far indicate they will fight toward their goal of the destruction of our free republic, “by any means necessary”.
I suspect it may well take “Italy, 1945”, version 2.0, to truly eradicate the domestic enemies.
May God give our President the courage, strength, and resolve to do whatever must be done.
HarleyLady I think if this CRAP doesn’t STOP your biker buddies and thousands of other bikers WILL CONVERGE on D.C. themselves and you and I can just sit back and watch the fireworks from the safety of our homes!!! The American public has had ENOUGH I feel like Trump is ALONE trying to fight these BASTARDS!!! This IS going to come to a BOILING POINT and it won’t be long, the AVERAGE AMERICAN HAS HAD ENOUGH!!! WE FOUGHT LIKE HELL to get this man over the finish line only to find there is a SHADOW GOVERNMENT trying to take him out!!! I REALLY wish Trump had STOOD HIS GROUND with Flynn, CIA is a DANGER Flynn HATED them with a passion!!!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.