President Donald Trump fired Pentagon chief Mark Esper on Monday afternoon, installing an unprecedented fourth acting Defense secretary just 72 days before the expected start of the Biden administration.
“I am pleased to announce that Christopher C. Miller, the highly respected Director of the National Counterterrorism Center (unanimously confirmed by the Senate), will be Acting Secretary of Defense, effective immediately…” the president tweeted. “...Chris will do a GREAT job! Mark Esper has been terminated. I would like to thank him for his service.”
It was not immediately clear that Miller’s appointment was legal. One possible barrier is 10 U.S. Code § 113, which bars anyone from holding the job who has served as an officer in a regular branch of the armed services in the past seven years; Miller left the Army sometime in 2014. And University of Texas law professor Steven Vladeck noted that 10 U.S. Code § 132 requires the deputy defense secretary to step up “when the Secretary dies, resigns, or is otherwise unable to perform the functions and duties of the office.” Pentagon officials declined to answer a reporter’s question about DepSecDef David Norquist’s status on Monday afternoon.
But Miller visited the Pentagon Monday afternoon, removing his mask as he entered the building. “Miller's guidance to senior Pentagon staff is there is no change to the mission, no significan ..
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