Congress
Who could be the Pentagon’s No. 2 in a Pete Hegseth DOD?
Two seasoned Defense Department insiders are in the running to be the Pentagon’s No. 2, and names of other possible nominees are swirling as the Trump transition team looks to fill top posts in the Army, Navy and Air Force.
Potential nominees for deputy defense secretary include former Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie and former Pentagon No. 2 David Norquist — both veterans of President-elect Donald Trump’s first administration.
Blue Light News spoke with seven people who were granted anonymity to discuss deliberations within the Trump team. As with all things, nothing is certain until Trump makes his decision, and as his surprise pick of Fox News personality and Army veteran Pete Hegseth proved, there are plenty of known unknowns when trying to peer into the crystal ball of his inner circle.
Wilkie, who is leading Trump’s transition effort at DOD, is in the mix for deputy defense secretary, according to three people familiar with the talk inside the transition team.
Wilkie already enjoys some support on Capitol Hill. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), who employed Wilkie as a Senate aide, said he was unaware as to whether Wilkie was in the mix for the job but said he’d be “a huge get, him being in that role, maybe being a mentor and adviser,” to Hegseth.
“I hope right now that he’s being considered for a Cabinet-level post,” Tillis said.
Also being mentioned to take the Pentagon’s No. 2 civilian job is David Norquist, a longtime Washington DOD official who also served in the role for the last two years of Trump’s first term, as well as being the department’s chief financial officer in that administration. He is the president and CEO of the National Defense Industrial Association, a defense industry trade group.
The trade group’s spokesperson, Rachel Sutherland, said she had no insight into “Norquist’s intentions or any considerations he may have regarding a potential position with the new administration.”
Karoline Leavitt, a spokesperson for Trump’s transition team, declined to discuss the specific nominees.
The deputy secretary performs the crucial role of overseeing the Defense Department’s day-to-day operations. But the job could take on even greater significance if Hegseth, who does not have Defense Department experience beyond his National Guard service, is confirmed.
The Trump transition team has yet to sign a memorandum of understanding to get presidential transition planning underway with the Pentagon, spokesperson Sabrina Singh said on Monday. Officials in the building are ready and waiting to work with the Trump transition staff, she added.
Also in the mix for other military roles:
- Defeated U.S. Senate candidate Hung Cao, a retired Navy captain, has also been floated for multiple roles, including deputy secretary and Navy secretary, two people said. Cao served as an explosive ordnance officer in Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia before running for office. Cao would seem to fit with the incoming Trump administration’s push to combat “wokeness” in the military.
- Rep. Mike Garcia, who was narrowly defeated in a bid to retain his battleground California House seat, is also a contender for Navy secretary, two people close to the transition said. A former F/A-18 fighter pilot who flew more than 30 combat missions during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Garcia has hewed to hawkish defense positions, chastising fellow Republicans for blocking last year’s $826 billion Pentagon spending bill. .
- Rep. Ronny Jackson, a retired Navy captain and sitting Texas lawmaker who became close to Trump as his chief medical adviser during his first administration, has also been floated for Navy secretary, according to two people. His appointment would be tricky as it would further cut into the narrow Republican margin in the House, though picking Jackson would give Trump a fierce loyalist in the Navy’s top job. Jackson initially retired as a rear admiral, but he was later demoted due to the results of a DOD Inspector General investigation into his conduct as White House physician.
- John Phelan, a Florida-based private investor and a major donor to Trump, has also been mentioned as a potential Navy secretary candidate, three people said. One of the people added that the wealthy financier did not specifically ask for the role, but that it was floated within Trump’s camp.
- Former Rep. Chris Stewart is in the mix to be Trump’s Air Force secretary, according to one person familiar with the process. Stewart is a former Air Force officer, piloted the B-1B bomber and holds three world records for his flights. The Utah Republican was an appropriator and senior member of the House Intelligence Committee, where he was a solid defender of Trump during the panel’s role in the former president’s first impeachment related to his dealing with Ukraine.
- Over at the Army, Chris Miller — the former acting defense secretary in Trump’s tumultuous final weeks in office — has been mentioned as a possible nominee, one person said. Miller, a retired Army Special Forces colonel, also served as the director of the National Counterterrorism Center before being elevated to acting secretary when Trump fired Mark Esper. Miller would be a controversial pick, given his leadership during the Jan. 6 riots and his often gregarious tell-it-like-it-is demeanor.
- Dan Driscoll, a North Carolina businessman and Yale law school classmate of Vice President-elect JD Vance, has also been mentioned as a potential Army secretary nominee, one person said. Driscoll served as a second lieutenant in the Army and deployed to Iraq. He ran unsuccessfully for a House seat in North Carolina in 2020 on a national security-based platform that included support for Trump’s border wall with Mexico.
Congress
Massie files to run in 2028 after losing House primary
GOP Rep. Thomas Massie filed on Monday to run for his Kentucky House seat in 2028, less than a week after losing a primary fight against a challenger backed by President Donald Trump.
Massie became the latest victim of Trump’s revenge tour last week when former Navy SEAL Ed Gallrein successfully ousted him in a primary that shattered electoral spending records.
Trump repeatedly railed against Massie, who has broken with the president on several high-profile issues in recent months, including the U.S. and Israel’s war against Iran. Massie also helped lead the congressional effort to force Trump to release the federal government’s files on deceased sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Advertising spending in his primary fight — the most expensive on record — surpassed $32 million as pro-Israel interest groups poured millions into the effort to unseat Massie, who has been an outspoken critic of Israel during his time in Congress.
Massie said in a Monday afternoon statement that the move would allow him “to raise funds to continue my political operations supporting my position as a current office holder and as a potential candidate for federal office,” adding that he had not yet decided which office to seek.
Trump also succeeded in pushing out other Republicans who challenged his leadership in Louisiana and Georgia last week, with GOP Sen. Bill Cassidy and Georgia gubernatorial candidate Brad Raffensperger both losing to Trump-endorsed opponents.
The president also forced out several Indiana state lawmakers who opposed his nationwide redistricting efforts earlier this month, once more proving his iron grip on the party.
But Republicans in Congress and GOP operatives are fretting that Trump’s laserlike focus on vengeance could imperil the party’s legislative agenda ahead of this fall’s midterm elections and potentially cost the GOP control of Texas Sen. John Cornyn’s seat. Trump handed down an eleventh-hour endorsement of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton last week, more than two months after promising to weigh in on the ugly primary fight.
Congress
Khanna expresses disappointment about Massie’s defeat
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) expressed disappointment Sunday morning that Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) lost his primary last week.
Speaking on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Khanna said of his reaction: “Sadness, disappointment. Thomas is a real friend. He’s a good man.”
Khanna and Massie are very much on opposite ends of the classic left-right ideological spectrum, but they came together to introduce the Epstein Files Transparency Act, requiring the release of files in the case of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. They also joined together to attempt, unsuccessfully, to block U.S. involvement in Iran.
Those efforts, as well as other votes, led President Donald Trump to repeatedly denounce Massie and campaign on behalf of Ed Gallrein, Massie’s challenger in their Kentucky congressional district. Gallrein won the primary last week with approximately 55 percent of the vote.
Speaking to host Kristen Welker, Khanna offered his analysis of Massie’s defeat.
“He was taken out for two reasons,” Khanna said. “One: He had the courage to go after some very powerful people in working with me to get the Epstein Transparency Act passed. As you mentioned, that’s historic bipartisan legislation that finally got justice for the survivors. And he had people spend millions of dollars and had the president of the United States after him.
“And second, he worked with me to stop this war in Iran. So for taking on the Epstein class and taking on war, he basically lost his state. And I admire his courage in taking those positions.”
With talk this weekend of a possible deal with Iran, Khanna said it is time for the war to come to an end.
“The answer to your question is yes. I do believe we need a negotiated deal,” he told Welker.
Congress
Absent congressmember Tom Kean Jr. starts working the phone
Rep. Tom Kean Jr., whose two-and-a-half month disappearance has stoked speculation about his health and political future, has begun more actively communicating over the phone.
On Thursday, Kean began calling Republican county chairs in his 7th Congressional District, one of the most competitive in the country in this year’s midterms. The two-term Republican also gave a “lengthy” interview to New Jersey Globe on Thursday afternoon, the first he has granted since he last voted on March 5.
Kean did not respond to a text message from Blue Light News and his voicemail was full Thursday night.
But Kean, 57, gave no details to the Globe on his undisclosed illness, which has kept him out of public view since early March. He said he’s expecting to make a full recovery, that it would not affect his cognitive health, that he plans to run for reelection and that he will publicly discuss his health at an unspecified later date.
“My doctors are confident that I’m on the road to a full recovery,” Kean told New Jersey Globe. “I understand the need for public transparency, and I appreciate the support of my constituents.”
Kean added that he plans to return to voting and campaigning in the next couple weeks. Rep. Richard Hudson (R-N.C.), chair of the House GOP’s campaign arm, told reporters Thursday he spoke to Kean and he will be back voting in June.
Kean’s lengthy absence has drawn national media attention, with reporters staking out his home in the wealthy 7th Congressional District, where he faces an extremely competitive reelection, with four Democrats competing in the June 2 primary to take him on in November. His campaign and office staff had repeatedly said that he expects to make a full recovery and would return to work “soon.”
But few people — even Kean’s two fellow New Jersey House Republicans — had recently reported speaking to him. House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters that he spoke to Kean last month.
Kean called Republican chairs in his district on Thursday.
“He sounded good to me. Sounded just as normal as always,” said Carlos Santos, the Republican chair of Union County, where Kean lives.
Santos said that he did not ask Kean about his ailment, and that Kean did not disclose it. But he said Kean confirmed he’s running for reelection and that he has his support.
Tracy DiFrancesco, the GOP chair of Somerset County, also spoke with Kean.
“It was just a simple conversation. He sounded just like Tom always sounds. He sounded perfectly fine. He’s basically back. Hopefully we’re going to see him very soon,” she said. “I think he’s doing well and we’re excited to get back on his campaign.”
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