WASHINGTON (AP) — It is unclear who will take over the Pentagon and military services as the top leaders all resign Monday as President-elect Donald Trump is sworn in.
On Friday, officials said they had not yet heard who would become acting defense secretary. Officials said the military chiefs of the Army, Navy and Air Force were preparing to step in as acting service secretaries — a rare move — because civilians had not been named or, in some cases, had declined the opportunity.
As usual, all current political appointees will resign as of noon EST on Inauguration Day, leaving hundreds of key defense posts open, including dozens that require Senate confirmation. In addition to the top position and all three service secretaries, their deputies and senior policy officers will also leave.
That’s the Senate Armed Services Committee expects to vote Monday on Trump’s pick to lead the Defense Department, Pete Hegseth, but a full vote in the Senate may not take place until days later. As a result, someone from the Biden administration would have to take over temporarily.
For the service secretaries, officials said that while things could change before the inauguration, the Trump team is eyeing Gen. Randy George, Army chief of staff, as interim head of that service. They said Gen. David Allvin, the Air Force chief of staff, and Admiral Lisa Franchetti, the Navy chief, are aware they may have to intervene if a civilian is not appointed as acting secretary, and are preparing for that possibility .
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations, said many senior Biden administration leaders are reluctant to serve in the new Trump administration because they concerned about policy changes They may have to handle or enforce these.
Normally, only people appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate as secretary of defense or service also serve as acting officials during a transition. Trump could pull a confirmed member of the Biden administration from another agency and place that person at the Pentagon.
Civilian control of the military is a key premise, but the law allows the services’ military chiefs — all of whom are Senate confirmed — to take over on a temporary basis. It’s rare, but it happened more than 30 years ago.
Arnold Punaro, a retired two-star general in the Marine Corps Reserve, said Admiral Frank Kelso, who was chief of the Navy, was asked to serve as acting secretary of the Navy in 1993 when Bill Clinton became president because civilian leaders failed to act.
“It doesn’t happen often,” said Punaro, who spent 14 years as staff director on the Senate Armed Services Committee and has advised nominees through the confirmation process for decades. “Normally, you don’t want active-duty military personnel serving in civilian control positions. The practical reality is that they wear both hats.”
The transition to a new Minister of Defense has generally been an orderly process.
Four years ago, Trump’s deputy defense secretary, David Norquist, became acting secretary for the two-day gap between Democratic President Joe Biden’s inauguration and the Senate vote to confirm Lloyd Austin as head of the Pentagon.
In 2009, President Barack Obama asked his Republican predecessor’s Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, to stay on as his own Pentagon leader.
In 2017, Jim Mattis, Trump’s pick for secretary during his first term, was confirmed on Inauguration Day.
Different administrations have handled the transfer differently. In many cases, people have been asked to stay on in a temporary position. In one recent case, officials said, the agency’s auditors stepped in as acting secretaries because a key task in the coming months is putting together the huge, complex budget, and more often the money people consider less political.
This year’s rift is further complicated by the fact that Trump and Hegseth have both pledged to rid the Defense Department of what they call “woke” generals — or those who have supported diversity programs. That raises the possibility that even as the government struggles to fill its political appointment vacancies, it may also find holes in the military leadership structure that need to be filled.
When Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., asked Hegseth during his nomination hearing whether he planned to fire the current chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Gen. CQ Brown, he responded: “Senator, every senior officer will be judged based on meritocracy, norms, lethality and commitment to lawful orders they will receive.”
Hegseth previously said Brown should be fired. Conservative groups have compiled lists of generals they believe should be fired for supporting diversity programs. If Brown is fired, the vice chairman will take over until a new chairman is confirmed.
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Associated Press writer Tara Copp contributed to this report.