Esper confirmed as defense chief

WASHINGTON — The Senate overwhelmingly confirmed Mark Esper as secretary of defense Tuesday, ending the longest period by far that the Pentagon had been without a permanent leader.

Esper, an Army infantryman who fought in the Persian Gulf War of 1991 before becoming a lobbyist for military contractor Raytheon, replaces Jim Mattis, who resigned in December during a dispute over pulling U.S. troops out of Syria.

In receiving the 90-8 Senate nod, Esper succeeded where Patrick Shanahan, President Donald Trump’s original pick to replace Mattis, did not; Shanahan abruptly resigned last month, before his Senate confirmation hearing was even scheduled, after news reports revealed details of his 2011 divorce.

Esper, 55, now takes control of the country’s 1.2 million activeduty troops and one of the largest militaries in the world as the Trump administration is wrestling with the results of its so-called maximum pressure campaign of economic sanctions on Iran, which has prodded the two adversaries closer to military confrontation.

“Having a Senate-confirmed secretary of defense, especially one of this quality, could not come a moment too soon,” Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., the majority leader, said in a floor speech Tuesday. He called Esper a “well-prepared nominee” who will face a world “full of serious threats to America, to our allies and to our interests.”

How influential Esper will be is one of the biggest questions facing the new defense secretary. Mattis was widely viewed as a voice of reason and global stability in a chaotic administration. Shanahan, a former Boeing executive, was seen as far more amenable to White House directives.