Spencer Fired As SecNav, Three Different Stories Why

WASHINGTON: Defense Secretary Mark Esper fired his Navy Secretary today at a critical time for the sea service, as top leaders were about to sign off on an ambitious new shipbuilding plan. They now have to contend with yet another crisis in the Pentagon’s top ranks.

Ambassador to Norway Ken Braithwaite will be nominated as the new Secretary of the Navy, according to a statement by Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman, breaking a pattern where President Donald Trump elevates a deputy and keeps him as acting instead of nominating someone new. Navy Undersecretary Thomas Modly will take over as acting secretary for the second time this year, after a brief stint when Spencer moved up to take over as acting defense secretary while Esper was awaiting confirmation.  

Braithwaite graduated from the Naval Academy in 1984, and was an aviator before moving on to head several public affairs shops in the US and overseas within the Navy. After retirement as a rear Admiral in 2011, he worked as an executive in various businesses, ran communications at the US Embassy in Islamabad, and was senior advisor to Sen. Arlen Specter.

Within minutes of the announcement late Sunday afternoon just after the Halifax International Defense Conference wound down, three distinct narratives emerged from the three key players. The first came from Esper’s office, which said he fired Richard Spencer for hiding communications with the White House about restoring the rank of Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher, who was acquitted of murder by a military court but found guilty of posing with the body of a slain combatant and then was pardoned by Trump. “I am deeply troubled by this conduct shown by a senior DOD official.” Esper said in the statement.

Spencer, for his part, claimed he refused to “obey an order that I believe violates the sacred oath I took” to defend the Constitution. And Trump said none of the above. 

Then the president, in a series of tweets, claimed Spencer was fired because Trump didn’t like how Gallagher’s case had been handled, along with “large cost overruns from past administration’s [sic] contracting procedures were not addressed to my satisfaction.”  

The three versions paint very different pictures of what had become a tense relationship due to the Gallagher controversy and Spencer’s pledge to Trump last year to fix the troubled USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier forthwith or the president could fire him. The Ford missed the deadline in July and Spencer was not fired.

The purported talks between Spencer and the White House to allow Gallagher to retire and keep his SEAL status would have circumvented the regular Navy process for holding a hearing to consider restoring Gallagher’s rank. 

But Esper did just that Sunday evening. 

A statement from the Pentagon said “the process should be allowed to play itself out objectively and deliberately, in fairness to all parties. However, at this point, given the events of the last few days, Secretary Esper has directed that Gallagher retain his Trident pin.”

It’s unclear why Esper took the action, and if he is did so at the direction of the White House, which would seem likely.

In his own letter, Spencer appeared to allude to the fact that he did not want to allow Gallagher to keep his Trident, which would conflict with Trump’s stated wishes. “I no longer share the same understanding as the Commander in Chief who appointed me, in regards to the key principle of good order and discipline. I cannot in good conscience obey an order that I believe violates the sacred oath I took in the presence of my family, my flag, and my faith to support and defend the constitution of the United States.” 

Speaking to reporters at the Halifax conference on Saturday, Spencer said, “my job is to give the President your best advice. He might not agree with your advice, and that’s OK. You go and sit down and do it again next time …at the end of the day he’s the president and gets to make up his own mind.” 

One line from Spencer’s letter echoed that of former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis last December. Mattis, objecting to Trump’s order to pull US troops out of Syria, wrote to the president, “you have the right to have a secretary of Defense whose views are better aligned with yours on these and other subjects.”

Senate Armed Services Chair Sen. Jim Inhofe, who has sharply criticized Spencer for his handling of the  Ford aircraft carrier, shed no tears for Spencer in a statement this evening. “It is no secret that I had my own disagreements with Secretary Spencer over the management of specific Navy programs, and I look forward to receiving and considering a nomination for the next Secretary of the Navy as soon as possible.” He added, “Secretary Esper and President Trump deserves to have a leadership team who has their trust and confidence.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told NBC News tonight that he spoke with Spencer after his firing. “I told him he’s a patriot, that he served the Navy and the nation well and he will be missed. Secretary Spencer did the right thing and he should be proud of standing up to President Trump when he was wrong.”

Spencer offered much the same sentiment. “The president deserves and should expect a secretary of the Navy who is aligned with his vision for the future.”

The firing came a day after Spencer repeatedly insisted he never threatened to quit if the Navy didn’t conduct a review of the Gallagher case.