DEFENSE/MILITARY/NOMINATION/SENATE/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump’s choice of Pat Shanahan as permanent Defense secretary sets the stage for a Senate showdown on his rocky tenure as acting Pentagon chief — as well as Trump’s own stewardship of military affairs. The confirmation process, which could begin within weeks, is likely to reignite questions about ethics and experience that have dogged the former Boeing executive, who was cleared last month of a Pentagon probe into his ties to his ex-employer. But it also is bound to renew deep disagreements over a host of Trump policies that Shanahan has accommodated, including the administration’s ban on transgender troops, use of military funds to build a border wall and saber rattling with Iran. The Senate Armed Services Committee, which will vet Shanahan, includes two Democratic presidential candidates — Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Kirsten Gillibrand — giving them an opportunity to burnish their national security credentials.”
–Bryan Bender, Conner O’Brien and Wesley Morgan, “Shanahan nomination sets up ‘referendum’ on Trump’s policies,” Politico, May 9, 2019 9:48 pm