Kelly Ayotte for Secretary of Defense?
“She would be a defense secretary in the mold of John McCain or Lindsey Graham”
This seems like an odd move, but apparently the Trump transition team, now headed up by Vice President-elect Pence, is considering the one-term, soon-to-be-former Senator Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) for Secretary of Defense.
The Trump team has added a name to its list of potential candidates for secretary of defense — outgoing Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.), according to two sources familiar with the ongoing discussions. If chosen, Ayotte would stand out in a Trump administration as a neoconservative defense hawk and one of the few women in the incoming Trump Cabinet.
No decisions have been made and the current list for possible defense secretary picks still centers around retired Army Lt. Gen. Joseph “Keith” Kellogg, former Defense Intelligence Agency director Gen. Mike Flynn and Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.). Flynn would need a congressional waiver to bypass a law that requires any defense secretary to be seven years out of active duty service before taking command of the Pentagon.
But Ayotte’s name has surfaced in internal discussions as a potential olive branch to the GOP foreign policy establishment that the Trump campaign was often at odds with over the past year. Ayotte is regarded as knowledgeable and competent, sources familiar with the discussions said, and would surely get swift Senate confirmation.
The Trump-Ayotte relationship has been a roller coaster over the past several months, as Ayotte tried to balance between supporting her party’s nominee and placing distance between her campaign and Trump’s more controversial comments, especially regarding women.
Ayotte did not attend the Republican National Convention in Cleveland in July. During one of her debates, she said Trump was “absolutely” a role model for children and later said she “misspoke.” After Trump’s lewd comments about women were exposed on the Access Hollywood tape, Ayotte announced she would cast a write-in vote for Mike Pence, saying “I cannot and will not support a candidate for president who brags about degrading and assaulting women.”
Generally speaking, I’m all for olive branches and mending fences, but . . . Ayotte? Really?
“She’s viewed as being in the mainstream of conservative Republican foreign policy,” one GOP foreign policy official told me. “She would be a defense secretary in the mold of John McCain or Lindsey Graham, and if that’s what Donald Trump is looking for, that’s what he’s going to get.”
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Comments
NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
HELL NO!!!
He’s so compromised on national security , nobody wants to work with him.
He’s so uncompromising on national security, none of our surrender monkeys want to work for him.
FTFY.
Ouch. No thanks.
If President-Elect Trump’s really considering weird choices, and not just keeping the press distracted (as we know he knows how to do), maybe he should see if he can get Chuck Norris interested.
Not a chance. Let’s stop being ridiculous, shall we?
“Ayotte built a reputation in the Senate for her dedication to her constituents. Conservatives vetting Trump’s appointments will be pleased by the stances she took in the Senate. From her position on the Armed Services Committee, she supported a strong military, and she opposed both the Iran nuclear deal and the closure of Guantanamo. She is a fiscal conservative, opposing Obamacare, supporting lower taxes for families and businesses, and fighting for lower federal spending. She worked to give better tools to law enforcement to fight crime in their communities.”
“A former prosecutor, Ayotte is the only woman ever to be appointed attorney general of New Hampshire: She was originally appointed by a Republican governor and twice reappointed by a Democrat. She has argued before the Supreme Court, and, in another high-profile case, she successfully won a conviction and a death sentence for a cop killer.”
Read more at: http://www.nationalreview.com/article/442110/kelly-ayotte-trump-cabinet
I am a New Hampshire native and have seen her in action, she would be wasted in a Trump cabinet position, she would be my first choice to fill a vacancy on the US Supreme Court.
My only comment is that this looks like another attempt by the LSM to shape the battlespace by “anonymous” (made up) sources so they can say “See, he directly turned down a Government Victim Group member!”
We don’t need another lawyer getting in the way of warfighting.
She’s a mush. No military service I’m aware of. A lawyer without a clue.
No.
Lt. Col. Allen West would be a good choice.
Now he would be perfect! I love Colonel West, and Secretary of Defense would be a great fit for him.
Kelly Ayotte would be a mistake for any high office.
I supported her 6 years ago when she was a Tea Party Conservative candidate. She promised to block amnesty in all forms and control spending, etc.
As soon as she arrived in Washington her positions had miraculously changed. She joined Senators McCain and Graham endorsing the Gang of Eight Amnesty bill. She voted to continue funding the Obama spending growth.
This year her campaign described her as “bipartisan”. A great message to the Republican base – “I will sell you out and make deals with the Democrats and you will not like the deals”.
Unfortunately Republicans appoint people who “GROW” in office (i.e. become liberal). There is no reason to appoint Ayotte who has already “GROWN”.
Of course, dangling the fruit of Sec Def may be a way to keep a lame duck under control during the lame duck session.
FURGETABOUTIT
“She would be a defense secretary in the mold of John McCain or Lindsey Graham.”
Why on God’s crusty pie would ANYONE think that being compared to John McCain or Lindsey Graham on ANYTHING would be a plus to the new, anti-establishment wave that is coming to Washington.
That seems like an automatic DISQUALIFICATION on the matter of being Sec. Def.
The left screamed and screamed for years about how Bush 43’s cabinet was a group of war-mongers. It’s time to show them exactly what a war-cabinet ACTUALLY looks like, with a Sec. Def. that isn’t afraid of global force-projection.
I bet that with a properly motivated Sec. Def. leading a truly unleashed Pentagon that we can clean up North Korea, Iran, ISIS, the Al Qaeda remnants, Syria and Crimea before the midterm elections.