Patrick Shanahan withdrew his nomination to be Secretary of Defence after reports of his family troubles become public
three reasons people are ejected from the top echelons of President Donald Trump’s administration. Either past personal failings come to light, or petty self-dealing scandals emerge while in office, or they suffer a sudden decline in the appraisal of a mercurial boss who likes a good firing now and again.
Ronny Jackson, the president’s personal doctor, who was appointed to run the Department of Veteran Affairs, bowed out after allegations emerged of drinking on the job and carelessly dispensing opioids. Scott Pruitt, the former administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, and Tom Price, the former health secretary, got the boot after their lavish spending habits—overstuffed security details, private-plane travel—caused considerable embarrassment.
Mr Shanahan, who was in Seattle at the time working for Boeing, flew to Florida where the assault occurred and tried to provide a legal defence for his son to spare him jail time. In the immediate aftermath of the assault he wrote a memo claiming that his son had “acted in self-defence”. He told thethat the characterisation was made before he had all the facts, and that he was wrong to write it.
Mr Shanahan’s predicament appears agonising. His difficulties do not elicit the same moral outrage as some of Mr Trump’s other nominations did. Yet they do illuminate the problem of a patchy vetting process and an impetuous chief executive who sometimes picks people simply because they look the part. Of the 713 top posts in the government which require the affirmation of the Senate, only 455 are filled by confirmed appointees.
The Department of Defence is perhaps America’s most important ministry, particularly now tensions with Iran are high—1,000 more troops have just been dispatched to the Middle East. The temporary replacement to the previous temporary replacement is Mark Esper, a West Point classmate of Mike Pompeo, the hawkish secretary of state. Mr Esper is a supporter of dispatching troops to the southern border, which allows Mr Trump to portray illegal immigration as an invasion.
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