Elaine McCusker was nominated late last year to be the Pentagon’s comptroller.
The White House is withdrawing the nominee for a top Pentagon post, according to two Senate aides, following reports that she questioned the legality of the administration’s efforts to freeze military aid to Ukraine.
Elaine McCusker was nominated late last year to be the Pentagon’s comptroller. She has been the acting comptroller since the summer and was the public face of the Pentagon’s budget rollout last month, briefing reporters on the details of the Defense Department’s $741 billion military spending request.
One of the Senate aides told POLITICO the chamber received the withdrawal of McCusker’s nomination on Monday.
The expected withdrawal of McCusker’s nomination in the wake of President Donald Trump’s impeachment acquittal was first reported by the New York Post last month. Trump was impeached by House Democrats on charges that he abused his power by delaying the aide to pressure Ukraine to investigate his political rivals.
The move comes as Trump and his allies seek to root out members of his administration they view as disloyal following the president’s acquittal. Most recently, the White House ousted Pentagon policy chief John Rood. Trump also removed Army Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman from his job on the staff of the National Security Council and recalled Gordon Sondland from his post as ambassador to the European Union. Both Vindman and Sondland testified publicly in the House impeachment probe.
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The White House is withdrawing the nominee for a top Pentagon post following reports that she questioned the legality of the administration's efforts to freeze military aid to Ukrainehttps://t.co/0d32l5MsMe
— POLITICO (@politico) March 2, 2020
POTUS has the right to nominate whoever he wants in such jobs. But this is now just straight-up loyalty testing of career public servants. I guess he's looking for some college kid who took a finance course and had a MAGA sticker on his dorm window to be DOD comptroller. https://t.co/UUU2l0CuY2
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) March 3, 2020
Ethic cleansing https://t.co/vsH6RUy3tP
— Windsor Mann (@WindsorMann) March 3, 2020
Elaine McCusker is a dedicated civil servant with years of experience at DoD. The termination of her nomination is collateral damage by a President who has vindictively purged career national security professionals caught up in the impeachment inquiry.
https://t.co/CbWPYW0S3g— Senator Jack Reed (@SenJackReed) March 3, 2020
Just like the two-bit dictators Trump admires so much. Only instead of executing the disloyal or making them disappear, he purges them or withdraws their nominations.
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