Who will lead the Pentagon when Trump takes office?

As is customary, all current political nominees will resign starting at 12:00 pm (Eastern time) on Inauguration Day in the US, including the head of the Pentagon, who does not yet have a confirmed replacement.

It is not yet known who will take command of the Pentagon and the military services when its top leaders leave their posts on Monday and US President-elect Donald Trump assumes the presidency.

As of Friday, several officials said they still did not know who would become acting defense secretary. They noted that military chiefs from the Army, Navy and Air Force were preparing to serve as acting service secretaries — an unusual move — because civilians had not been appointed, or some of them had declined the opportunity.

As is customary, all current political nominees will resign effective at 12:00 pm ET on Inauguration Day, leaving hundreds of key defense positions vacant, including dozens that require Senate confirmation.

In addition to the top job and three service secretaries, all of his deputies and senior policy staff will leave.

The Senate Armed Services Committee is scheduled to vote Monday on Trump's pick to lead the Defense Department, Pete Hegseth, but the full Senate vote may not occur until several days later. As a result, someone in President Joe Biden's administration would have to temporarily take over.

For service secretaries, officials said that although things could change before the inauguration ceremony, Trump's team is considering Gen. Randy George, the Army chief of staff, to serve as temporary head of that service.

They noted that Gen. David Allvin, chief of staff of the Air Force, and Admiral Lisa Franchetti, chief of the Navy, know they might have to intervene if a civilian is not named acting secretary, and they are already preparing for that. possibility.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to explain internal deliberations, said many senior leaders in the Biden administration are reluctant to work in the incoming Trump administration because they are concerned about policy changes they might have to handle or make. achieve.

Usually, only people appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate serve as defense or service secretary, even on an acting basis during a transition. Trump could remove a confirmed member of the Biden administration from another agency and put that person in the Pentagon.

Civilian control of the military is a key principle, but under the law, the services' military chiefs — all confirmed by the Senate — can temporarily take control. It is rare, but it happened more than 30 years ago.

Arnold Punaro, a retired two-star Marine Corps Reserve general, said that in 1993, Adm. Frank Kelso, who was head of the Navy, was asked to serve as acting secretary of the Navy when Bill Clinton took office. presidency because the civil leaders did not show up.

“It doesn't happen very often,” said Punaro, who was staff director of the Senate Armed Services Committee for 14 years and has advised nominees in the confirmation process for decades.

“Normally you don't want active military serving at civilian checkpoints. The practical reality is that they perform both functions.”