Confirmation hearings

In this July 16, 2019 photo, Secretary of the Army and Secretary of Defense nominee Mark Esper testifies before a Senate Armed Services Committee confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington. Esper, an Army veteran and former defense industry lobbyist, won Senate confirmation Tuesday to be the Secretary of Defense. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

In this July 8, 2019, photo, acting Secretary of Defense Mark Esper waits for the arrival of Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani to the Pentagon. The Pentagon says that Esper expects to be formally nominated for the top job very soon, setting off a complicated leadership replacement shuffle at top Army, Navy and senior Defense Department levels(AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

In this July 8, 2019, photo, acting Secretary of Defense Mark Esper waits for the arrival of Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani to the Pentagon. The Pentagon says that Esper expects to be formally nominated for the top job very soon, setting off a complicated leadership replacement shuffle at top Army, Navy and senior Defense Department levels(AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

FILE - In this Nov. 28, 2018, file photo, then-Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis speaks with reporters before welcoming Lithuanian Minister of National Defense Raimundas Karoblis to the Pentagon in Washington. When he resigned as defense secretary last December, Mattis thought it might take two months to install a successor. That seemed terribly long at the time. Seven months later, the U.S. still has no confirmed defense secretary even with the nation facing potential armed conflict with Iran. It’s the longest such stretch in the history of the Pentagon. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen, File)

FILE - In this Nov. 28, 2018, file photo, then-Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis speaks with reporters before welcoming Lithuanian Minister of National Defense Raimundas Karoblis to the Pentagon in Washington. When he resigned as defense secretary last December, Mattis thought it might take two months to install a successor. That seemed terribly long at the time. Seven months later, the U.S. still has no confirmed defense secretary even with the nation facing potential armed conflict with Iran. It’s the longest such stretch in the history of the Pentagon. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen, File)

Acting Secretary of Defense Mark Esper waits for the arrival of Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani to the Pentagon in Washington, Monday, July 8, 2019. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Acting Secretary of Defense Mark Esper waits for the arrival of Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani to the Pentagon in Washington, Monday, July 8, 2019. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

FILE- In this Sept. 10, 2016, file photo. Adm. William Moran speaks during the Commissioning of the USS Montgomery in Mobile, Ala. Moran, the Navy admiral set to become his service's top officer on Aug. 1, 2019, says he will instead retire. The extraordinary downfall of Moran was prompted by what Navy Secretary Richard Spencer on Sunday, July 7 called poor judgment. Spencer faulted Moran for having a professional relationship with a person who had been disciplined for what Spencer called "failing to meet the values and standards of the naval profession." (Albert Cesare/Montgomery Advertiser via AP, File)

FILE- In this Sept. 10, 2016, file photo. Adm. William Moran speaks during the Commissioning of the USS Montgomery in Mobile, Ala. Moran, the Navy admiral set to become his service's top officer on Aug. 1, 2019, says he will instead retire. The extraordinary downfall of Moran was prompted by what Navy Secretary Richard Spencer on Sunday, July 7 called poor judgment. Spencer faulted Moran for having a professional relationship with a person who had been disciplined for what Spencer called "failing to meet the values and standards of the naval profession." (Albert Cesare/Montgomery Advertiser via AP, File)

FILE - In this Dec. 1, 2018 file photo, Vice Chief of Naval Operations, Adm. William Moran describes the function of the USS Thomas Hudner prior to its commissioning ceremony in Boston. Moran, the Navy admiral set to become his service's top officer on Aug. 1, 2019, says he will instead retire. The extraordinary downfall of Moran was prompted by what Navy Secretary Richard Spencer on Sunday, July 7 called poor judgment. Spencer faulted Moran for having a professional relationship with a person who had been disciplined for what Spencer called "failing to meet the values and standards of the naval profession." (Paul Connors/The Boston Herald via AP, File)