Esper asks for Navy secretary's resignation over disputed SEAL case
Navy Secretary Richard Spencer resigned Sunday at Defense Secretary Mark Esper’s request over a private compromise Spencer proposed to the White House that would have allowed a sailor accused of war crimes to retire as a SEAL rather than being kicked out of the elite force’s rank, the Pentagon said.
Spencer kept Esper out of the loop on the proposal, which contradicted the Navy secretary’s public position that a board to potentially kick Chief Petty Officer Eddie Gallagher out of the SEALs should proceed despite the opposition of President Donald Trump. But Esper has also ordered that Gallagher remain a SEAL.
After Esper and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley spoke with Trump about Gallagher’s case on Friday, Hoffman said, “Secretary Esper learned that Secretary Spencer had previously and privately proposed to the White House — contrary to Spencer’s public position — to restore Gallagher’s rank and allow him to retire with his Trident pin.”
Despite asking for Spencer’s resignation over the proposal, though, Esper “has directed that Gallagher retain his Trident pin,” the insignia that marks him as a SEAL, Hoffman said. Esper has proposed to Trump that retired Rear Adm. Kenneth Braithwaite, who is the administration’s ambassador to Norway, replace Spencer as Navy secretary, according to Hoffman, who added that Esper will meet Monday morning “to discuss the way ahead” with Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael Gilday and the service’s new acting secretary, Navy Undersecretary Thomas Modly.
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