Patrick Shanahan had been acting Secretary following Jim Mattis’s resignation at the end of 2018 after Mr Trump announced an immediate withdrawal from Syria when Mr Mattis had pushed for the US to wait until it was certain ISIS would not regroup. Mr Shanahan has been in the post since New Year’s Day making it the longest period the US has been without a permanent Defence Secretary. As reported by the BBC, Army Secretary Mark Esper will replace Mr Shanahan in the interim role.
Mr Trump tweeted: “Acting Secretary of Defence Patrick Shanahan, who has done a wonderful job, has decided not to go forward with his confirmation process so that he can devote more time to his family.
“I thank Pat for his outstanding service and will be naming Secretary of the Army, Mark Esper, to be the new Acting Secretary of Defence. I know Mark, and have no doubt he will do a fantastic job!”
Earlier on Tuesday, it was claimed that the FBI was investigating a 2010 incident which saw both Mr Shanahan and his ex-wife Kimberly accuse one another of assault.
In 2011, the Washington Post explains, Kimberly Jordinson was found unconscious in a pool of blood with a fractured skull and other internal injuries requiring surgery after being attacked by a baseball bat by Mr Shanahan’s then 17-year-old son, William.
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Mr Shanahan told the Washington Post he regretted writing a legal memo that argued his son acted in self-defence.
In a statement announcing his resignation, Mr Shanahan described it as “unfortunate that a painful and deeply personal family situation from long ago is being dredged up and painted in an incomplete and therefore misleading way”.
He said he did not wish for his three children “to relive a traumatic chapter in our family’s life and reopen wounds we have worked years to heal”.
Mr Shanahan worked for three years as an executive at Boeing, who hold several American defence contracts.