Patrick Shanahan

The Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998 has put a number of limitations on acting secretaries, which could make things difficult for Army Secretary Mark Esper

Minutes before the Acting Secretary of Defense withdrew Tuesday from his confirmation process, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke at MacDill Air Force Base about the need to coordinate "diplomatic and defense efforts'' to address rising tensions with Iran

Yahoo News reported on Tuesday that Shanahan's FBI background check was holding up the process.

The Pentagon doesn't need to investigate a White House directive for the U.S. Navy to move the warship USS John S. McCain from view before President Donald Trump's recent trip to Japan, Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan said Sunday.

"There is no room for politicizing the military," Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan said.

He said the troops in the region have the "required military readiness" without the exercises.

Speaking at the Naval Academy's commencement ceremony in Annapolis, Maryland on Friday, the acting defense secretary and former Boeing executive encouraged members of the Class of 2019 to embrace the mantra of Japanese samurai in their service to the United States

Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan has presented an updated military plan to President Donald Trump's administration that envisions sending up to 120,000 troops to the Middle East should Iran attack American forces or accelerate work on nuclear weapons, the New York Times reported on Monday.

Acting U.S. Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan has approved the transfer of $1.5 billion to build more than 80 miles of barriers on the border with Mexico, including taking about $600 million from an account meant for Afghan security forces.

"Based upon his outstanding service to the Country and his demonstrated ability to lead."

Everyone just needs to calm down.

I, for one, appreciate the candidness.

It could pave the way for Shanahan to finally get an official nomination from the White House.

"The Russians present a risk," Shanahan told reporters on Thursday. "My job is to manage the risk."

In just under a month, the Defense Department should have a list of which military construction projects can be delayed in order to transfer $3.6 billion to pay for the border wall, according to a Pentagon memo obtained by Task & Purpose.

The Pentagon said on Thursday it has started a new, "narrowly-scoped" review of a deadly 2017 ambush in Niger, in which four U.S. soldiers were killed, to see whether additional punishments were needed

​Lawmakers moved to block the Department of Defense's move to transfer $1 billion for the construction of a physical barrier along the U.S.-Mexico border, the latest showdown in the battle over the border wall that President Trump has vowed to build

Robert Wilkie has reportedly tossed his name into the hat to replace James Mattis as secretary of Defense, according to the Washington Post.

"I always think of Sen. Graham as an ally and we have shared interests. He is a problem-solver and I am very confident we will come together with solutions for Syria."

"I am now your adversary, not your friend."

According to the law, the defense secretary has to decide whether the wall is militarily necessary before money from the military construction budget can be used.

"His views are all in there: his leadership philosophy, his ideas on establishing harmony across large organizations, and the way he compartmentalizes a broad problem set into identifiable, solvable chunks."

The new defense chief, a former Boeing employee, has reportedly been extremely critical Lockheed Martin's F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter in private meetings, raising questions about whether he is bias in overseeing the largest weapons program in history

Patrick Shanahan has swallowed the "Red Pill" from the Matrix. Now he'll see how deep this rabbit hole goes.

The handoff between Mattis and Shanahan will have little pomp and circumstance when it takes place.