Shanahan withdraws from consideration to be US defense secretary
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E-mail Xinhua, June 19, 2019
U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted on Tuesday that Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan has decided not to go forward with his confirmation process.
"Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan, who has done a wonderful job, has decided not to go forward with his confirmation process so that he can devote more time to his family," Trump said, thanking Shanahan for his service.
The announcement came more than a month after Trump signaled his intention to nominate Shanahan for the top defense job, and nearly half a year after Shanahan became the de facto leader of the Pentagon.
Shanahan said in a statement Tuesday that family issue was the reason for his withdrawal.
"It is unfortunate that a painful and deeply personal family situation from long ago is being dredged up and painted in an incomplete and therefore misleading way in the course of this process," Shanahan said, "I believe my continuing in the confirmation process would force my three children to relive a traumatic chapter in our family's life and reopen wounds we have worked years to heal."
According to media reports, Shanahan's ex-wife has accused Shanahan of domestic violence, which he denied. Court documents also reveal that Shanahan's son hit his mother repeatedly on the head with a baseball bat in 2011, causing her to be hospitalized.
Shanahan told The Washington Post that dredging the episode up, a likely scenario in a confirmation hearing, "will ruin my son's life."
Trump said Secretary of the Army, Mark Esper, will be named the new Acting Secretary of Defense. Esper, who graduated from West Point and served in the U.S. Army during the Gulf War, saw his career span across think tanks, the executive branch and the U.S. Congress. He was hired by defense contractor Raytheon in 2010. Esper assumed his current role in November 2017.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell welcomed Esper to lead the Pentagon, saying "we all know him. I think that's a good choice" for acting defense secretary.
Tuesday marked the 168th day for which the post of the Secretary of Defense is vacant. Previously the longest stretch of vacancy was about two months.
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