Trump to Nominate Mark Esper as SecDef, Ryan McCarthy as Army Secretary

After allowing Patrick Shanahan to serve as acting defense secretary for 168 days without a nomination to the post, President Donald Trump is moving to nominate his replacement before he even arrives in the role.

On Friday evening, Trump announced his intent to nominate Army Secretary Mark Esper for secretary of defense. Esper was set to step up as acting defense secretary Monday after Trump announced earlier this week that Shanahan would not continue to pursue nomination, following reports of an FBI investigation into two troubled domestic incidents in 2010 and 2011.

re! In the same announcement, Trump said he would nominate David Norquist, who has been serving as acting defense secretary, to that position; and Ryan McCarthy, under secretary of the Army, as the service's secretary.

President Trump nominates, but will he be opposed? it seems, at every turn, there are traitors:

10 Jul: Washington Examiner: Trump mothballs climate skeptic panel
by Josh Siegel
“It’s clear that there is considerable opposition to this kangaroo climate panel idea from within the White House, across the Administration and in Congress, including the Defense Department, the intelligence community and the science agencies, and that it’s now dead on the vine,” Frank Fernia, co-founder of the Center for Climate and Security, which opposed the plan, told the Washington Examiner...

“I would encourage the president to look long and hard on the science, admit the science is real, and come up with solutions that do not destroy the economy like the Green New Deal,” said Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina senator, at a press conference Wednesday where he and other Republicans announced the creation of a new caucus intended to showcase the party’s new innovation-centric approach to reducing emissions. “I am tired of playing defense on the environment. We will win the solution debate, but the only way to win is admit you have a problem.”

Representative Matt Gaetz of Florida, another Republican close to Trump, said the president’s pro-environment speech Monday shows the success of a lobbying effort by lawmakers like himself who want the party to take climate change seriously.
“You can see the positive impact that Senator Graham, myself and others in the administration have had on the president,” he said at the press conference Wednesday.

Other Republicans said Trump is right to postpone the climate skeptic panel and begin to talk about environmental issues, but argue his rhetoric alone is insufficient.
“It’s clear the president and the dministration are nervous about the politics of the environment,” said Carlos Curbelo, a former Republican congressman from Florida who introduced a carbon tax bill last year. “If this is the beginning of a broader shift toward a rational, science-based approach to climate policy, that would be welcome. However, until the president recognizes the urgent need to reduce carbon pollution, swing voters who are concerned about this issue will not take him seriously. “
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/energy/trump-mothballs-climate-skeptic-panel

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