Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan is likely to be nominated to his position long-term, Senate Armed Services Chairman Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) told Bloomberg Thursday.
“Indications are now that it’s going to be him,” Inhofe said, according to the report.
President Trump has long wanted to nominate Shanahan for the job, but one obstacle is the ongoing inspector general’s investigation into whether Shanahan has favored his former employee Boeing while at DOD.
Shanahan has held the interim job since the end of the year, making this the longest stretch in U.S. history without a full-time defense secretary.
Inhofe and others have pressed the White House to make a nomination. Inhofe told Bloomberg Thursday that having “acting” in Shanahan’s title may send the message around the world that he doesn’t have the president’s full support.
 
DOD photo by U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Angelita M. Lawrence