‘Not unusual’: Pentagon cites Obama in explaining Tata nomination circumventing Senate

An uproar in Congress has accompanied President Trump appointing retired Brig. Gen. Anthony Tata to a Pentagon position after his Senate confirmation hearing was abruptly canceled last week. Now, the Pentagon is saying President Barack Obama did it too.

“I will just point out that in the prior administration, a current member of Congress was designated the senior official performing the duties of the deputy undersecretary of defense for policy for over a year,” Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman told members of the media Thursday.