Shanahan Probably Won’t Be Picked for Top Pentagon Spot: Inhofe

President Trump probably won’t nominate Patrick Shanahan as Defense Sec. given that he hasn’t done so yet, says Jim Inhofe, Senate Armed Services Cmte Chairman.

• “If he hasn’t done it until now — I’m not casting any accusations or even expressing how I personally feel — but if the president hasn’t done it by now, then apparently he’s not going to,” Republican Inhofe says in interview. “That’s the only conclusion I can come to”
• NOTE: Inhofe said yesterday he would support Shanahan, who is acting defense sec., in the official post and has said he likes the former Boeing executive
  • Inhofe’s cmte controls approval of military and civilian nominees
• Inhofe says he communicated with White House officials recently about the need to have a permanent secretary in place; says the White House was in agreement but that nothing was said about Shanahan specifically being nominated
• “I do have one strong opinion nobody else seems to talk about and that is we’ve got to get a permanent secretary of defense,” Inhofe says
• Also says Shanahan’s nomination is complicated by Pentagon Inspector General investigation into whether he disparaged Boeing’s Pentagon competitors in his official Defense Dept position;
• Related, Pentagon Watchdog Probes Allegations Shanahan Touted Boeing