Trump appoints ex-Raytheon lobbyist and CFR member as interim SecDef

[devil21]

Drainin' that swamp, dontcha know.
Mark Esper, head of government affairs at Raytheon prior to appointment as SecArmy last year.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/...an/1488902001/

https://www.opensecrets.org/news/201...lead-pentagon/


(eta: I recall a Trump pledge to not hire lobbyists into his administration. Did I imagine that?)

[EBounding]

tRuSt ThE pLaN

[Zippyjuan]

Drainin' that swamp, dontcha know.
Mark Esper, head of government affairs at Raytheon prior to appointment as SecArmy last year.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/...an/1488902001/

https://www.opensecrets.org/news/201...lead-pentagon/

Who replaced a Boeing executive.

[brushfire]

That there is Dee-Four swamp chess, I tell ya. It aint gonna be too long, fore he done got himself a check, mate.

[Anti Globalist]

4D dimensional chess.

[Origanalist]

Drainin' that swamp, dontcha know.
Mark Esper, head of government affairs at Raytheon prior to appointment as SecArmy last year.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/...an/1488902001/

https://www.opensecrets.org/news/201...lead-pentagon/


(eta: I recall a Trump pledge to not hire lobbyists into his administration. Did I imagine that?)

No, you didn't imagine it.

[Origanalist]

Double post

[Anti Globalist]

Don't you guys get it? Trumps only hiring him to do a specific thing and then fire him when hes served his usefulness.

[Snowball]

Don't you guys get it? Trumps only hiring him to do a specific thing and then fire him when hes served his usefulness.

Kind of like Trump himself was hired by Israel.

[Brian4Liberty]

To a Raytheon lobbyist, the solution to every problem is a missile.

[devil21]

Don't you guys get it? Trumps only hiring him to do a specific thing and then fire him when hes served his usefulness.

Yeah that seems to be the case with most of his appointments after the initial ones. Task-oriented appointees then on to the next, instead of a general department overseer. Good observation.

[Origanalist]

To a Raytheon lobbyist, the solution to every problem is a missile.

When you're a hammer.....

[juleswin]

Kind of like Trump himself was hired by Israel.

Antisemitism is not welcomed in this forum. Take that post back before I report you. Trump cares about the US and its allies and unlike the popular saying about serving 2 masters, Trump can definitely serve Zionist Israel and the American people at the same time.

-rep for disrespecting the POTUS.

[Danke]

Antisemitism is not welcomed in this forum. Take that post back before I report you. Trump cares about the US and its allies and unlike the popular saying about serving 2 masters, Trump can definitely serve Zionist Israel and the American people at the same time.

-rep for disrespecting the POTUS.

Oh no, @TheTexan is rubbing off on Che.

[TheTexan]

Antisemitism is not welcomed in this forum. Take that post back before I report you. Trump cares about the US and its allies and unlike the popular saying about serving 2 masters, Trump can definitely serve Zionist Israel and the American people at the same time.

-rep for disrespecting the POTUS.

+rep for standing with Israel. They are a tremendous ally in helping us to destabilize the region, the best ally

[Swordsmyth]

Now the Demoncrats will dig through his past and destroy him.

[RonZeplin]

Now the Demoncrats will dig through his past and destroy him.

It's a tough job, but somebody's got to do it.

[Swordsmyth]

It's a tough job, but somebody's got to do it.

Trump has the swamp creatures fighting eachother, that makes the job easier.

[donnay]

Trump has the swamp creatures fighting eachother, that makes the job easier.

Absolutely. It is fun to watch this unfold.

[enhanced_deficit]

'Drain the swamp' doesn't get ant better than this, he's doing the best he can.

Trump has the swamp creatures fighting eachother, that makes the job easier.

In the fight between hardcore conservative Steve Bannon vs Democrats Jarvanka, did swamp win or lose in the end?


Related

Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner spent a weekend at a luxury hotel in the Dominican Republic — and it cost taxpayers $58,000

Kushner, Ivanka Trump made at least $82 million in outside income while serving in White House

[Swordsmyth]

In the fight between hardcore conservative Steve Bannon vs Democrats Jarvanka, did swamp win or lose in the end?

It's not over yet nor is it clear that Bannon's departure was as it seemed.

[devil21]

Absolutely. It is fun to watch this unfold.

Never mind that he appointed another MIC lobbyist. But keep watching the theatrical production on Capitol Hill instead. It's good for news channel ratings and re-election campaign accounts.

[Swordsmyth]

Never mind that he appointed another MIC lobbyist.

...

Now the Demoncrats will dig through his past and destroy him.

[devil21]

^^^^Good thing he keeps appointing "interim" heads that never have to be confirmed. /s

They swapped out Shanahan with this guy right before any confirmation would have been required. I expect they will keep doing it.

[Zippyjuan]

^^^^Good thing he keeps appointing "interim" heads that never have to be confirmed. /s

They swapped out Shanahan with this guy right before any confirmation would have been required. I expect they will keep doing it.

There is a limit of 145 days for a cabinet position a person can be "acting" secretary. The catch there is once he is officially nominated, they can no longer be "acting" secretary so technically there is no Secretary during the time it takes to complete the nomination process.

[devil21]

There is a limit of 145 days for a cabinet position a person can be "acting" secretary. The catch there is once he is officially nominated, they can no longer be "acting" secretary so technically there is no Secretary during the time it takes to complete the nomination process.

Yeah, Trump kept saying he was going to nominate Shanahan. It's coming. Wait for it. Soon.

Then at the last minute...Shanahan who?

(btw your SS sig quote is hilarious)

[enhanced_deficit]

Smetimes you have to get in the swamp, be "one with the swamp" to drain it. 3D.

Now the Demoncrats will dig through his past and destroy him.

^^^^^ This >>>>>> http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthr...=1#post6799725

It's not over yet nor is it clear that Bannon's departure was as it seemed.

Yea it is sort of foggy/unclear like appointment of Deep Neocons like Bolton.

[Swordsmyth]

(btw your SS sig quote is hilarious)

It's out of context (I was saying that zippy and the other shills had dropped in quality since I got here) but since you also trade in intellectual dishonesty it makes sense that you like it.

[Swordsmyth]

It's unclear what happens if we hit the 210-day deadline with no confirmed secretary, and without a nomination sent to the Senate, but the timeline is getting tighter by the day.
It's a good thing we're not racing headlong into a war with Iran or some other equally daunting geopolitical catastrophe, because the task of actually filling the Pentagon's top job is starting to look like an increasingly messy task.
After Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan withdrew from consideration for permanent secretary, President Donald Trump tapped Army Secretary Mark Esper to take over as his second Acting Secretary of Defense in five months.

But unfortunately for both Trump and Esper, a federal law from 1998 puts a number of legal hurdles in their way.
As Steve Vladeck, a law professor at the University of Texas who focuses on national security and constitutional law, among other things, pointed out on Friday, the period we've gone without a Senate-confirmed defense secretary is three times as long the previous record.


But while Trump has said previously that he likes having secretaries in acting capacities because it gives him "more flexibility," the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998 (FVRA) puts limitations on acting secretary roles, which put the the Pentagon in murky territory when Esper formally steps into the role on June 24.
For starters, in compliance with the FVRA, the person nominated to a position is typically not allowed to serve in that position in an acting capacity. If Trump officially nominated Esper for Defense Secretary, he would not be allowed to serve as the Acting Defense Secretary while his nomination was under consideration.



Shanahan was an exception to this rule because he, as Deputy Secretary of Defense, was "first assistant" to the Secretary; according to an explanation of the FVRA from the Congressional Research Service (CRS), only the "first assistant" to an office may bypass that rule.
Vladeck told Task & Purpose in an email that in the case that Esper is nominated and has to step aside as the acting secretary while his nomination is being considered, the position, "by default," would go to Navy Secretary Richard Spencer, although Trump "would be free to name someone else as long as that person is eligible under the FVRA."


Another limitation is time. There is a 210-day deadline for a person to serve in an acting capacity, beginning on the day that the position becomes vacant. This applies to the office, not the person in office, which means that the moment he takes office, Esper will be effectively running out the clock on Shanahan's 210-day tenure in the role — which ends on July 30th, 2019.
"This period does not begin on the date an acting officer is named," legislative attorney Valerie Brannon wrote for the CRS. "And because it runs continuously from the occurrence of the vacancy, the time limitation is unaffected by any changes in who is serving as acting officer."


Vladeck clarified that if the nomination is sent to the Senate before that 210-day limit expires, the time limit extends for as long as the nomination is pending. But because Shanahan's nomination was never sent to the Senate, that clock has continued ticking down since January 1, 2019.
And when, or if, the Senate Armed Services Committee receives Esper's nomination from the White House, it has to wait seven days before taking it up for discussion. To make matters more tense, Congress goes on recess for a week for the Fourth of July, starting on July 1st and again for about a month on August 5th.

More at: https://nationalinterest.org/blog/bu...-defense-65481