Defense, Power & Security, United States Defense Secretary Faces White House Pressure on Aides and a Military Promotion

June 25, 2020
By Helene Cooper and Eric Schmitt | The New York Times

Perry World House's Director of Communications and Research, John Gans, is quoted in this piece from The New York Times.

The Pentagon is facing a hemorrhage of talent as senior officials resign amid continued efforts by the White House to purge those perceived as political foes, including the Army lieutenant colonel who testified in the House impeachment hearings...

“Mark Esper is caught between a very irregular commander in chief and an institution that expects regular order,” said John Gans, a Pentagon speechwriter for former Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter. “At a certain point, Esper has to decide when enough of Trump’s degradation of the office of secretary of defense and the institution itself is enough.”