November 22 – After U.S. Defense Secretary Esper was recently fired by Trump, several senior defense officials resigned one after another. According to U.S. media statistics, 40% of the senior positions in the Ministry of Defense that need to be confirmed by the Senate have not been approved for appointment.
According to U.S. media such as Newsweek and Defense News on the 21st, statistics show that 24 of the 60 senior positions in the Department of Defense currently lack the nominees confirmed by the Senate, including the Secretary of Defense, several deputy ministers in charge of intelligence, policy, research and engineering, and auditors. In addition, the positions of Deputy Minister for the Navy and Air Force and General Adviser of the Army are still unattended. It is understood that those who are now in charge of these matters are filling vacancies as agents at the request of the president, or working in the name of “in lieu of performing duties”.
Arnold Punaro, a former senior official of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said that considering that the new administration is about to take office and the Senate has only 14 working days left, Trump’s nominations for these positions will be difficult to confirm. Punaro said that the current government nominates and appoints candidates significantly slower than in previous years.
On the 9th local time, Trump said on Twitter that he had dismissed Esper as Secretary of Defense, with Christopher Miller, director of the National Anti-Terrorism Center, as Acting Secretary of Defense. On the 10th, three senior Pentagon officials quickly submitted resignation letters. At that time, the U.S. media predicted that more people would resign in the next few minutes from the Ministry of Defense. ( Overseas Network Zhao Jianxing)
