Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Jim Inhofe told acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan he believes President Trump will soon nominate him to permanently replace Jim Mattis, who left the job late last year.
“I just said I think it’s going to happen pretty quick now,” Inhofe, R-Okla., said he told Shanahan this week.
Shanahan is under an ethics inquiry and was criticized for his performance at a recent congressional hearing, which prompted some to speculate Trump will pass him over.
But Inhofe said he believes Trump will stick with Shanahan and nominate him as soon as this week.
“That’s a hope, that’s not a prediction,” Inhofe said.
Inhofe said Shanahan, a former Boeing executive who served under Mattis, has demonstrated “staying power” in the role and added Trump has “pretty much ignored” other names of possible Mattis replacements that lawmakers have sent his way,
“I think he’s decided he’s in shape now to go ahead and go through,” Inhofe said.
Shanahan has grown more confident in the job since taking over in January, Inhofe said.
“He’s improved a lot, not that he needed improvement,” Inhofe said. “I don’t dislike him. I think he’s good. I just want somebody permanent.”
