A perilous time to have temps running the Pentagon

President Donald Trump's brinkmanship with Iran is on the boil, spilling beyond diplomacy to a planned air attack on Iran that Trump said he ordered, then pulled back at least for now. This, as the U.S. undertakes an unusual troop deployment to the Mexican border , tends its nearly two-decade-old war in Afghanistan and grapples with stalled talks with North Korea over its nuclear weapons program.

Temporary leadership is a hallmark of Trump's administration ."It gives me more flexibility," Trump has said of the many people in acting leadership jobs, not always by his choice. As the situation grew more dangerous this week, the acting defense secretary, Patrick Shanahan, stepped down, saying he wanted to spare his family a public airing of domestic problems linked to his messy divorce nearly a decade ago. Trump said months ago he would nominate Shanahan for the defense job and seek his Senate confirmation but he never did. Officials said repeatedly that the vetting of Shanahan was dragging on.

Esper is slated to take over as acting defense secretary at midnight Sunday, then head out Tuesday to a meeting of NATO defense ministers. There it will be critical for Esper to convince allies that he is now in charge, and that the U.S. national security leadership is stable and able to make decisions in crises.

The law prohibits Esper from being nominated for the job while also serving as acting secretary. If he is nominated, he'll have to step down and move to another job until the Senate votes on his confirmation. So that would mean yet another acting secretary meantime.

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