Trump will nominate Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan to take the job permanently

Patrick M. Shanahan.
(Image credit: Alex Wroblewski /Getty Images)

President Trump will nominate his Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan for the full job, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced Thursday.

Shanahan has served in an acting capacity since the beginning of the year, after former Defense Secretary James Mattis left the role. Before that, he was the department's deputy secretary, and has a long career working for Boeing.

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Kathryn Krawczyk

Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.