WH considering Webb for SECDEF

The Trump administration is considering Jim Webb, a former Democratic senator from Virginia and former 1-year Navy secretary under former President Reagan, as the next Secretary of Defense, according to The New York Times. An unnamed official told the NYT that Vice President Mike Pence and acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney have reached out to Webb. A senior Pentagon official also told the newspaper that Webb’s name had been circulating in the White House. President Trump is searching for a new Defense secretary after James Mattis announced he'd be resigning. Mattis resigned following Trump’s decision to withdraw U.S. forces from Syria. Patrick Shanahan, a former Boeing executive and deputy defense secretary, is serving as acting Defense secretary. Webb’s views on the Middle East align more closely with Trump’s. The decorated Marine veteran and Naval Academy grad was an outspoken opponent of the Iraq War while he served in the Senate. Webb served in Vietnam as a platoon commander for the Marines. Wounded twice, he was awarded the Navy’s second-highest decoration, the Navy Cross. Reagan appointed Webb to be SECNAV but he resigned after a year later over budget cuts to the Navy. He later switched political parties and in 2006, was elected to his first and only term as a senator from Virginia. (The Hill 01/03/19)