Sen. Ron Johnson echoed other senators who said they want a new Pentagon chief next year who will try to moderate Trump’s aversion to traditional military alliances and U.S. commitments abroad.

Politico.com

Senators of both parties are uniting around one main demand for Donald Trump’s next defense secretary: They want someone who will challenge the president’s isolationist views.

“I’d like a Mattis clone. I think we all would,” Sen. Ron Johnson, the Wisconsin Republican who chairs the Homeland Security Committee, said in an interview Friday, referring to Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, who turned in his resignation Thursday.

Johnson echoed other senators who told POLITICO they want a new Pentagon chief next year who will try to moderate Trump’s aversion to traditional military alliances and U.S. commitments abroad — as Mattis tried with varying success for the past two years.

Sen. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), a senior member of the Armed Services Committee, said she’s seeking a new defense secretary who “understands the importance of maintaining alliances — someone who focuses on our adversaries and foes and acknowledges the threats we face as a country.”

It all has the making for a big nomination fight if Trump taps someone who closely hews to his “America First” mantra for foreign affairs and economic policy.

Even Senate Armed Services Chairman Jim Inhofe, who has carefully sought to cultivate a relationship with Trump by muffling any public criticism, said Friday he wants Mattis’ general policy outlook to prevail.

For example, asked if he wants Mattis’ replacement to support continuing U.S. military operations in Syria and Afghanistan, Inhofe told POLITICO: “Well I would, yeah. I would, sure.”

It was Trump’s precipitous decision to withdraw from Syria — over the objections of his national security team — that forced Mattis to quit.

In his resignation letter, he stressed that “my views on treating allies with respect” and the need for a more “resolute and unambiguous” policy towards Russia were areas where he and the commander-in-chief did not see eye to eye.

“One core belief I have always held is that our strength as a nation is inextricably linked to the strength of our unique and comprehensive system of alliances and partnerships,” Mattis continued. “We cannot protect our interests … without maintaining strong alliances and showing respect to those allies.”

A number of potential replacements have emerged as candidates for Trump’s next Defense secretary, ranging from prominent senators, such as Tom Cotton or Lindsey Graham, to figures already serving in the administration, such as Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan or Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats.

But Inhofe expressed doubts that a person in the mold of Mattis, a retired four-star general, will be easy to find amid the chaos of the Trump White House.

“I have a hard time believing that there are a lot of retired military who are just chomping at the bit,” said Inhofe, whose panel would hold confirmation hearings on Trump’s pick.

Retired Army Gen. Jack Keane, who has grown close to Trump, reportedly turned down the job. And another retired senior officer in the White House orbit told POLITICO Friday that he couldn’t think of anyone who would be willing to take the job — let alone someone with an internationalist bent — given the way Mattis’ advice has been dismissed in recent months.

But Mattis, who will step down in February, still enjoys widespread bipartisan support on Capitol Hill.

He is seen as one of the last Trump lieutenants with a bedrock belief in the international order that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Thursday called “the post-World War II alliances that have been carefully built by leaders in both parties.”

The exiting defense secretary, along with other Trump advisers like former National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster and soon-to-depart White House chief of staff John Kelly, attempted to soften some of Trump’s most knee-jerk impulses — and slow-walk or stymie some of his most unpopular national security positions.

“I want someone like Mattis who will tell the president the truth to his face,” Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), a hawkish member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, told POLITICO.

Even some Democrats who have been critical of Mattis’ views said Friday that they saw him as a steadying hand in what they consider a dangerously unpredictable administration.

“Look, I have disagreed with Secretary Mattis on a number of policy issues, but I am very grateful for his principled service on behalf of the people of the United States of America,” said Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).

Yet it’s Republicans, who will maintain control of the Senate, that will have the final yea or nay to Trump’s selection.

“We lost McMaster, we lost Kelly, now we’re losing Mattis,” said Johnson. “These are people that first of all they served their country with distinction, and they bring a very needed perspective into the administration. This is disconcerting to say the least.”

Who will fill the void? No one seemed to know as Congress prepared to leave town for the year.

“I don’t know what the post-Mattis world is going to look like,” remarked Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), another member of the Armed Services panel. “The fundamental issue is we have a president who doesn’t listen to anybody, who doesn’t think through any of his decisions.”