Defense Department spokesman Hoffman said Thursday (Nov. 5, 2020) that Defense Secretary Esper has no plans to resign and has not been asked to submit a letter of resignation. He said that a related report by NBC was inaccurate and misleading in many ways.
Earlier, NBC quoted three current defense officials as saying that Secretary Esper had prepared a letter of resignation, adding that he was one of three Cabinet officials who had been expected for some time to be asked to leave after the presidential election.
The report said that it is not unusual for cabinet ministers to prepare resignation letters during the transfer of presidential power, in order to give the president the opportunity to replace them in the new term.
Esper’s public stance on some defense matters is at odds with President Trump’s views. As Secretary of Defense this summer, he opposed the use of active duty military personnel against protesters in the streets of the United States. He has also publicly stated his intention to remove the names of Civil War Confederate generals from the names of U.S. military bases.
In a tweet, Pentagon spokesman Hoffman said, “He (Esper) continues to serve as Secretary of Defense at the pleasure of the President and continues to implement an irreversible national defense strategy.”
For the past two years, Esper has been working to advance a national defense strategy that views China and Russia as major adversaries of the United States and competes with them by providing U.S. military lethality, strengthening alliances, and improving the operations of the defense establishment.
Two days after the U.S. presidential election, vote counting continues. As of Friday morning, neither the Republican candidate, incumbent President Trump, nor the Democratic candidate, former Vice President Biden, had received the 270 electoral votes needed to win.
Past experience has shown that a new president does not necessarily replace a secretary of defense appointed by a previous president immediately upon taking office.
Esper has served as U.S. Secretary of Defense since July 2019. He said in July that he hoped to visit China during the year, seeking to strengthen cooperation between the two militaries in areas of mutual interest and emphasizing his willingness to compete with China in the international system and mechanisms.
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