Two people have turned down the Secretary
of Defense job
of Defense job
Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) and former Undersecretary of Defense Mich᷅ele Flournoy have turned down the Secretary of Defense job.
The Secretary of Defense job became vacant this week after current Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel announced the he will be resigning at the end of this year.
Hagel did say that he will remain in the position until the Senate confirms President Obama’s appointee for the position.
Reed and Flournoy were considered good replacements. Sen. Reed was an officer in the Army’s 82nd Airborne and he is currently a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
The Providence Journal reported on Monday that Reed’s spokesman, Chip Unruh, said that Reed prefers to remain in the Senate and that he’s not interested in the “Secretary of Defense job or any other Cabinet position.”
Flournoy also stated that she isn’t interested in replacing Hagel. Flournoy, who sent a letter to CNAS’ board of directors, was quoted by Foreign Policy as saying, “Last night, I spoke with President Obama and removed myself from consideration due to family concerns. After much agonizing we decided that now was not the right time for me to reenter government.”
According to Politico, Democrats believed that Flournoy’s experience and tough stance on defensive policy issues made her an excellent choice to become the next Secretary of Defense.
Also, if confirmed, Flournoy would have become the country’s first woman to serve as the Secretary of Defense.
Some others whose names have been floated around are Ashton Carter, former CIA Director David Petraeus, and retired Four Star General Stanley McChystal.
Rep. Buck McKeon, who’s the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, told Politico that he didn’t believe anyone would want to replace Hagel because of the tension in the White House.
“I personally don’t know why anybody would want to take the job. It’s an important job, but if they’re going to keep running everything out of the White House then it doesn’t really make much differences,” said McKeon.
There have been reports that the national security team under the lead of National Security Advisor Susan Rice has been rather dysfunctional and that Chief of Staff Dennis McDonough’s “micromanagement” style has made it difficult as well.
Clemons told TPM that Hagel felt like an outsider. “I think there was tension between Hagel and Susan Rice and tension over what the appropriate conduct was in terms of managing cabinet secretaries and their time with Obama,” said Clemons.
Clemons also told TPM that everyone knew Hagel would leave soon because of the tension between Hagel, Rice, and McDonough, but that Hagel’s departure “happened faster than I [Clemons] expected.”
The Secretary of Defense job became vacant this week after current Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel announced the he will be resigning at the end of this year.
Hagel did say that he will remain in the position until the Senate confirms President Obama’s appointee for the position.
Reed and Flournoy were considered good replacements. Sen. Reed was an officer in the Army’s 82nd Airborne and he is currently a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
The Providence Journal reported on Monday that Reed’s spokesman, Chip Unruh, said that Reed prefers to remain in the Senate and that he’s not interested in the “Secretary of Defense job or any other Cabinet position.”
Flournoy also stated that she isn’t interested in replacing Hagel. Flournoy, who sent a letter to CNAS’ board of directors, was quoted by Foreign Policy as saying, “Last night, I spoke with President Obama and removed myself from consideration due to family concerns. After much agonizing we decided that now was not the right time for me to reenter government.”
According to Politico, Democrats believed that Flournoy’s experience and tough stance on defensive policy issues made her an excellent choice to become the next Secretary of Defense.
Also, if confirmed, Flournoy would have become the country’s first woman to serve as the Secretary of Defense.
Some others whose names have been floated around are Ashton Carter, former CIA Director David Petraeus, and retired Four Star General Stanley McChystal.
Rep. Buck McKeon, who’s the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, told Politico that he didn’t believe anyone would want to replace Hagel because of the tension in the White House.
“I personally don’t know why anybody would want to take the job. It’s an important job, but if they’re going to keep running everything out of the White House then it doesn’t really make much differences,” said McKeon.
There have been reports that the national security team under the lead of National Security Advisor Susan Rice has been rather dysfunctional and that Chief of Staff Dennis McDonough’s “micromanagement” style has made it difficult as well.
Clemons told TPM that Hagel felt like an outsider. “I think there was tension between Hagel and Susan Rice and tension over what the appropriate conduct was in terms of managing cabinet secretaries and their time with Obama,” said Clemons.
Clemons also told TPM that everyone knew Hagel would leave soon because of the tension between Hagel, Rice, and McDonough, but that Hagel’s departure “happened faster than I [Clemons] expected.”
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