Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan has withdrawn from consideration to hold the post in a permanent capacity, President Donald Trump announced Tuesday in tweets.  The president said Shanahan had opted to “devote more time to his family.”  Shanahan confirmed the news in a statement Tuesday.  Trump said he would name Army Secretary Mark Esper as the new acting defense secretary. 

Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan, who has done a wonderful job, has decided not to go forward with his confirmation process so that he can devote more time to his family.... — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 18, 2019

....I thank Pat for his outstanding service and will be naming Secretary of the Army, Mark Esper, to be the new Acting Secretary of Defense.  I know Mark, and have no doubt he will do a fantastic job! —  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 18, 2019

Shanahan has served as the department’s acting chief since December, when former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis resigned in protest over Trump’s decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria.  In May, the president announced Shanahan as his pick to lead the department on a permanent basis but stalled in sending his formal nomination to the Senate Armed Services Committee.  Shanahan’s confirmation process was delayed due to an ongoing FBI investigation looking into, among other things, reported incidents of domestic violence in his family.  The alleged incidents largely stemmed from Shanahan’s divorce from Kimberley Jordinson.  Shanahan and Jordinson alleged they were assaulted by one another, and Jordinson was arrested and charged with domestic violence during one dispute in 2010.  Shanahan dropped the charges and later filed for divorce.  In a separate incident in November 2011, Shanahan initially defended William Shanahan, his son who was 17 at the time, after he beat Jordinson with a baseball bat.  The attack left her bloody and unconscious, with a fractured skull and internal injuries that necessitated surgery, according to court and police records reviewed by The Washington Post.  In a memo two weeks later to his ex-wife’s brother, Shanahan claimed his son acted in self-defense. “ Use of a baseball bat in self-defense will likely be viewed as an imbalance of force,” he wrote. “ However, Will’s mother harassed him for nearly three hours before the incident.” 

Tom Brenner via Getty Images Then-acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan delivering remarks during a Memorial Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery on May 27.