President Trump announced a slew of Pentagon nominations on Thursday, including naming Boeing executive Pat Shanahan as deputy secretary of defense.
Shanahan played a key role in getting production of Boeing’s troubled 787 Dreamliner back on track, and was promoted to senior vice president of the aircraft manufacturer’s Supply Chain and Operations last April. Shanahan previously served as general manager of Boeing Missile Defense Systems in Philadelphia, where he oversaw all Army aviation programs.
Robert Work, who had been deputy secretary under former Defense Secretary Ash Carter, has been staying on to help Defense Secretary Jim Mattis during the transition.
The president also nominated five other individuals to key Pentagon posts on Thursday:
- National security consultant David Trachtenberg will serve as principal deputy undersecretary of defense on policy;
- Former White House deputy homeland security adviser Kenneth Rapuano will be assistant secretary of defense on homeland and global security;
- Former Senate Armed Services Committee staffer Elaine McCusker will serve as principal undersecretary of defense, comptroller;
- And former Bush administration official Robert Daigle will serve as director of Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation at the Pentagon.
The wave of personnel nominations came on the same day the Trump administration released its first proposed budget, which would raise spending for the Defense Department to $639 billion for 2018.
“These are all highly qualified individuals who were personally recommended by Secretary Mattis to the President for
More than 50 days into the new administration, Mattis remains the only confirmed Trump appointee at the Pentagon. Trump has nominated former Rep. Heather Wilson to be Air Force secretary, yet the nominees to run the Navy and Army Departments have both dropped out.
Pentagon spokesman Capt. Jeff Davis said each nominee announced by Trump on Thursday was “personally recommended” to the president by Mattis.
“Secretary Mattis is grateful to Deputy Secretary Bob Work for agreeing to continue serving until his successor is confirmed,” Davis said in a statement, adding that Work’s “steady leadership is critical during this time of transition.”
