When Jim Mattis resigned as defense secretary in December, President Trump quickly went to his preferred plan B: elevate the deputy.
When Patrick Shanahan flamed out over questions about his handling of domestic violence in his family, Trump nominated Army Secretary Mark Esper to the job, and everyone under him moved up a notch.
David Norquist, the Pentagon comptroller, was nominated to be Esper’s deputy, and Esper’s former deputy, Army Undersecretary Ryan McCarthy, was nominated to take Esper’s old job.
It might seem there’s a certain logic to going to the bench every time there’s a hole in the starting lineup, except, traditionally, that’s not how it’s done at the Pentagon.
Of the current members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, only one, Air Force chief of staff Gen. David Goldfein, was elevated from the No. 2 position to the top job, in Goldfein’s case by President Barack Obama in 2016.
Most of the Joint Chiefs have terms that expire this summer, a schedule deliberately designed to provide continuity of military leadership during presidential election years, when political leadership can change.
In the coming months, the chairman, vice chairman, and the heads of the Navy and Marine Corps will all retire. Army Chief Gen. Mark Milley would be retiring, too, except Trump has picked him to be his Joint Chiefs chairman, replacing Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford.
To fill the Army and Navy slots, Trump has nominated the vice chiefs of each service, Army Gen. James McConville and Navy Adm. Bill Moran.
No one is suggesting either officer is unqualified. Both are expected to win easy Senate confirmation.
But Trump’s reliance on deputies to fill key slots suggests he doesn’t have much knowledge about other talented leaders in the ranks who might bring fresh ideas to the table, and even perhaps align more closely with his noninterventionist instincts.
Normally, a president would rely on an experienced defense secretary for guidance on who might be the best choice among potential three- and four-star officers, but not only does Trump lack a confirmed defense secretary, when he did have one he rarely sought or took his advice.
In 1989, Defense Secretary Dick Cheney strongly recommended to President George H.W. Bush that he pass over some of the usual candidates and pick a young four-star commander of the relatively unglamorous U.S. Forces Command. As a result, Colin Powell became the youngest chairman and the first African American to hold the post.
In 2003, when Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was dissatisfied with the lackluster performance of his inherited Army chief, he recalled a retired general, Peter Schoomaker, back to active service to help overhaul the Army.
One of the frustrations Mattis had with Trump, among the factors that led to his resignation on principle last December, was the president’s failure to take his recommendation that Goldfein, not Milley, serve as the next chairman.
By law, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff serves as the principal military adviser to both the president and the defense secretary and is the military leader who has the most face time with the president and a seat on the National Security Council. A president rightly must pick someone he is comfortable with and has confidence in.
When the president nominates a senior military officer to a top post, such as when Trump picked Lt. Gen H.R. McMaster to be his national security adviser after Michael Flynn’s firing, it’s more than an honor. It’s a command.
When it comes to filling political appointed positions, the task is vastly more difficult. A suitable candidate must be found who is willing to go through the onerous process of divesting financial assets and passing an FBI background test, only to take a job with grueling hours, life-and-death responsibilities, and relatively low pay, roughly $210,000 for defense secretary.
With Trump’s mercurial personality, combined with his penchant for ignoring advice and issuing surprise policy pronouncements, there are few takers.
Esper might not be the most inspired choice to lead the Department of Defense, but he has a proven record in the military, industry, and in navigating the ways of Washington.
He’s been sure-footed in his two years as Army secretary, standing up the new Futures Command, dedicated to adapting the Army for 21st-century warfare.
Asked by NBC’s Chuck Todd what he would like to be able to do over, Trump replied, “It would be personnel.”
Trump was referring to his regret in picking Jeff Sessions, an Alabama Republican senator, to be attorney general, but the remark could be applied to any number of early administration appointments that didn’t work out: Flynn, McMaster, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, or chief of staff John Kelly.
Given the limitations of the White House vetting process, Trump has found that going with No. 2 is often the safest option.
Jamie McIntyre is the Washington Examiner’s senior writer on defense and national security. His morning newsletter “Jamie McIntyre’s Daily on Defense,” is free and available by email subscription at dailyondefense.com.
