The nominee for the Pentagon's second-highest personnel role has withdrawn from consideration for the post after an op-ed he wrote for The Federalist surfaced, sources tell Politico. A number of sources told the publication that J. David Patterson, who was nominated Jan. 9 for principal deputy undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, was withdrawing his name. The withdrawal stems from a 2017 op-ed that Patterson wrote for the conservative website, in which Patterson and co-author A.D.P. Efferson blame mass killings on immigrants who fail to assimilate to American culture. “One explanation for the rise in terrorist behavior in the...