With the forced resignation of Secretary Chuck Hagel (who is staying on as SecDef until his successor is Senate-confirmed) comes the plethora of possible candidates to replace him. After Michele Flourney, former Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, who took herself out of competition almost as quickly as her name surfaced, and Senators Jack Reed (D-RI) and Carl Levin (D-MI)—Reed is a West Point grad and former Army Ranger, and Levin is the retiring Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee—both said no, and DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson, the former top lawyer in DOD, added his name to the “no thanks” list, as did retired General Colin Powell, it looks like former DepSecDef Ashton Carter is the nominee.
Some have referred to him as the “last man standing.” Since time is getting short in the lame duck session, the likelihood is that Hagel’s replacement won’t be Senate confirmed until next year.
In a letter last week to President Barack Obama, Flournoy cited “family concerns” as a reason for deciding “that now was not the right time for me to re-enter government.” But she was probably influenced by other factors, including his national-security staff’s notorious micromanagement of the Pentagon, according to DODBuzz.com. “The White House team is severely micromanaging most departments, not just defense, but defense included,” said Gordon Adams, a professor at American University who oversaw national security budgeting at the Office of Management and Budget during the Clinton administration.
“I can assume that Michele knows that animal pretty well because she was undersecretary,” he said. Flourney is hoping to be the first female SecDef if Hillary Clinton is elected President in 2016.
Since Obama took office 6 years ago, there have been three Defense Secretaries: Robert Gates, Leon Panetta, and Hagel.