Posted on 10/14/2017 4:31:15 AM PDT by huldah1776
The slow pace of confirming Trump administration nominees shows no signs of abating at the Pentagon as mid-October rolls around and 70 percent of its top posts remain unfilled.
Just 17 of the 57 Pentagon positions that require Senate confirmation have been filled by President Trump's appointees. That figure has barely budged in two months, leaving the military without a spectrum of leaders who can put the administration's stamp on policy.
"I think we should be very concerned and informal reports I get from the Pentagon suggest that this is a problem, that this is not just like business as usual over there," said Thomas Spoehr, the director of the Center for National Defense at the Heritage Foundation.
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The Senate Armed Services Committee, which has purview over vetting Defense Department nominees, has become a major bottleneck for Trump.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., the committee chairman, has said he is holding Army secretary nominee Mark Esper, a top lobbyist for defense contractor Raytheon, and others because he wants the Trump administration to provide information on military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.
McCain's committee has not held a confirmation hearing — other than for the reappointment of Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford — since July. Of the 23 nominees somewhere in the confirmation process, 16 of those are currently parked at the Armed Services Committee.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonexaminer.com ...
MCCAIN’s mental stability needs to be reevaluated. His irrational reasoning and decisions have become a liability to our nation’s welfare and security.
True. Don’t know if the budget needs to be cut because training was cut in half by the last administration and equipment is old but the whole system is as bloated as the civilian population. I wonder how much the unions have changed things there.
They could also reduce the number of General/Flag officers and not miss a beat.
You didn’t understand what I meant. The Constitution calls for it, “The Constitution guarantees to the people an honest and efficient government.” We fail to live up to much in the Constitution. I should made it clearer.
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