3:31
- ABC News
- December 23, 2018
Mattis to leave post by start of new year: Trump
The president also named Patrick Shanahan as acting Secretary of Defense.
3:31
Shanahan, a former senior vice president of Boeing, has been focused on the Department of Defense's budget and the Space Force during his time as deputy.
Col. Rob Manning, the head of Defense Press Operations, said the \"secretary of defense serves at the pleasure of the president.\"
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/Politics/patrick-shanahan-sh-01-jpo-181223_hpMain_4x3t_384.jpg\")
\"The department remains focused on national security,” he said.
The announcement comes just a few days after Mattis' abrupt resignation. In his letter to the president announcing his resignation, Mattis said he would be on until the end of February.
He had intended to testify on Capitol Hill and attend a NATO defense ministerial.
\"The end date for my tenure is February 28, 2019, a date that should allow sufficient time for a successor to be nominated and confirmed as well as to make sure the Department’s interests are properly articulated and protected at upcoming events to include Congressional posture hearings and the NATO Defense Ministerial meeting in February,\" Mattis wrote.
Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina thanked Mattis on Twitter for a \"lifetime of exceptional and dedicated service to our nation.\"
I think I speak for millions of Americans in thanking Secretary Mattis for a lifetime of exceptional and dedicated service to our nation.
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) December 23, 2018
I know he will continue to contribute to our national security for many years to come.
\"I know he will continue to contribute to our national security for many years to come,\" he wrote.
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