Esper is sworn in as defense secretary to succeed Mattis

It took seven months, but U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday finally got a Senate-confirmed secretary of defense to succeed Jim Mattis.

Mark Esper, an Army veteran and former defense industry lobbyist, won Senate confirmation by a vote of 90-8 and was sworn in at the White House by Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito in a ceremony attended by Trump and several members of Esper’s family.

“He’s going to be a great one,” Trump said.

Esper’s swearing-in ended the longest period the Pentagon has gone without a confirmed leader in its history.

The turmoil atop the Pentagon began when Mattis stepped down last New Year’s Eve after a series of policy disputes with Trump. He offered to stay two more months to get a successor in place and ensure continuity, but Trump said no.

The president was high on Mattis at the start of his administration. He liked to call the retired Marine general “Mad Dog,” but the affection waned and shortly before Mattis quit Trump referred to him as “sort of a Democrat.”

Even with Esper now in charge, the problem of leadership instability at the Pentagon is not fully resolved. There still is no Senate-confirmed deputy secretary of defense, though David Norquist on Tuesday was nominated for the post and is scheduled to have a confirmation hearing Wednesday. Norquist has been filling in as deputy since January; his regular job is Pentagon budget chief.