Exactly three months after Virtu's billionaire founder Vincent Viola announced he was withdrawing for consideration as Trump's army secretary, becoming the first of several Trump appointees to voluntarily decline to serve the president, moments ago Trump's second appointee for army secretary, Mark Green, has also withdrawn his nomination.
“It is with deep regret I am withdrawing my nomination to be the secretary of the Army,” he said in a statement.
The reason for his withdrawal is that democrats and various military groups had opposed Green over his past comments about the LGBA community, Muslims and Latinos as well as legislation he worked on in the Tennessee state senate.
Full statement from Mark Green on Nomination for Secretary of the Army
"It is with deep regret today I am withdrawing my nomination to be the Secretary of the Army.
"I am honored that President Trump nominated me for this position. I appreciate his support and confidence in me, as well as that of Secretary Mattis and many others, and their desire to Make America Great Again by preparing our military to face the many challenges in the world for the safety and security of our nation.
"But to meet these challenges, there should be no distractions. And unfortunately due to false and misleading attacks against me, this nomination has become a distraction.
"Tragically, my life of public service and my Christian beliefs have been mischaracterized and attacked by a few on the other side of the aisle for political gain. While these false attacks have no bearing on the needs of the Army or my qualifications to serve, I believe it is critical to give the President the ability to move forward with his vision to restore our military to its rightful place in the world.
In light of the recent shift in Trump's policy focus, much of which has been to pivot away from economic and diplomatic issues, and focus right on war and foreign conflicts, this is one post Trump will want to fill post haste.