President Trump seems to have chosen some well-qualified replacements for his original picks for Labor Secretary and National Security advisor.
After the fast-food tycoon Andrew Pudzer failed to win confirmation in the Senate, Trump has put forward Alexander Acosta, a law school dean and former assistant attorney general who has extensive expertise in labor law. Acosta, a Cuban-American, would be the first Hispanic member of Trump’s cabinet. He has already held three positions that required Senate confirmation, and the vote was unanimous each time.
Trump’s choice to replace Gen. Michael Flynn, who resigned after a controversy over his leaked conversations with the Russian ambassador, is another general: Gen. H. R. McMaster (ret) is a much-praised combat veteran and military strategist. He is described as “one of the Army’s leading intellects.”
Trump needs to get his cabinet confirmed and in place. Then and only then can we know what the Trump administration is actually going to do and how well (or how poorly) it will govern the country.
Moving quickly after his first choice for labor secretary withdrew his nomination amid controversy, President Trump made a seemingly safe selection on Thursday in R. Alexander Acosta, a Florida law school dean and former assistant attorney general.
In Mr. Acosta, Mr. Trump has chosen a nominee with deep experience in labor relations, law and education. The pick answers concerns about the lack of diversity in the Trump administration, in that Mr. Acosta would be the first Hispanic in the president’s cabinet. And his chances of being confirmed appear relatively high, since Mr. Acosta, currently the dean of Florida International University’s law school, has made it through the Senate process three times for different roles.
“Alex is going to be a key part of achieving our goal of revitalizing the American economy, manufacturing and labor force,” Mr. Trump said as he called on the Senate to confirm Mr. Acosta swiftly.
A Miami native, Mr. Acosta’s most relevant experience to the job of labor secretary is his time at the National Labor Relations Board, where he was a member from 2002 to 2003, under President George W. Bush. Mr. Bush later tapped Mr. Acosta to be assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s civil rights division, one of the highest positions at the agency.
President Trump said Monday that retired Gen. H.R. McMaster will be his new national security adviser, replacing the dismissed Michael Flynn. . . .
McMaster is the director of the Army Capabilities Integration Center, an internal think tank that looks at future threats and how to deal with them. He is also Deputy Commanding General, Futures, at the Army’s Training and Doctrine Command.
McMaster, viewed as one of the Army’s leading intellects, holds a doctoral degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is also a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. He is a decorated combat veteran whose innovative leadership in counterinsurgency helped secure the restive city of Tal Afar in Iraq from Sunni insurgents in 2005.
The president also suggested that another finalist for the national security adviser’s job — former U.N. ambassador John Bolton — would be also be hired for some kind of job.