McCain still troubled by Trump's defense industry nominees

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain (R-AZ) remains concerned about the number of the Trump administration's Pentagon nominees coming directly from the defense industry.

McCain, at a Thursday committee hearing to consider the nomination of Raytheon executive Mark Esper to become Army secretary said, “I would be remiss if I did not reiterate my concerns about the number of nominees from defense industry filling out the leadership ranks at the Department of Defense.”

But McCain said he would not oppose Esper on those grounds because of earlier conversations he had with Trump administration officials.

“I want to be clear that my reservations grew out of early consultations I had with the administration about potential nominations, including yours and a handful of others that were yet to be nominated,” McCain said. “It was then that I decided I couldn’t support further nominees with that background, beyond those we had already discussed.”

Esper, like other nominees with defense industry ties, has pledged to recuse himself from all matters related to Raytheon if confirmed.

Other senior DOD officials who came from industry include Deputy Defense Secretary Pat Shanahan, who was a Boeing executive, and Ellen Lord, DOD's acquisition chief who was the former chief executive at Textron Systems. McCain first publicly voiced his concerns about industry nominees during Shanahan's nomination hearing.

It remains unclear which nominees with defense industry backgrounds McCain will support or oppose in the future.

Meanwhile, John Rood, a Lockheed executive, has been nominated to be DOD's next under secretary of defense for policy. His hearing has not yet been scheduled.