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Trump loyalists get top Pentagon jobs after Esper firing
Read full article: Trump loyalists get top Pentagon jobs after Esper firing(Tom Williams/Pool via AP, File)WASHINGTON – A day after President Donald Trump fired Defense Secretary Mark Esper, three staunch loyalists to the president were named to top defense jobs. Patel and Cohen-Watnick are both considered staunchly loyal to Trump and previously worked at the National Security Council. He also is a former prosecutor in the national security division of the Department of Justice and former staff member on the House Intelligence Committee. Cohen-Watnick was a protégé of Trump’s initial national security adviser, Michael Flynn, but was replaced in the summer of 2017 by Flynn’s successor, H.R. McMaster, as part of a string of shakeups at the White House and National Security Council.
Trump loyalist gets Defense post as Senate nomination stalls
Read full article: Trump loyalist gets Defense post as Senate nomination stallsGen. Anthony Tata to a job performing the duties of the deputy undersecretary for defense policy, amid ongoing furor over offensive remarks Tata made, including about Islam. Last week the Senate canceled a hearing on Tata's nomination to become defense undersecretary for policy, the third-highest civilian post at the Pentagon. Tata, who also has been a Fox News commentator, withdrew his name from consideration for the undersecretary job over the weekend, and was then appointed by Trump to serve in the deputy's post. James Anderson, who had been serving as Rood's deputy, is currently the acting policy undersecretary the job Tata was initially nominated to fill. Officials who carry the acting title have more authority than those who are performing the duties of the job.
Florida shipping water to Bahamas
Read full article: Florida shipping water to BahamasIn this USCG handout image, views of the Bahamas from a Coast Guard Elizabeth City C-130 aircraft after Hurricane Dorian shifts north Sept. 3, 2019. TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - After being largely spared by Hurricane Dorian, Florida and the state's largest electric utility are sending more than a half-million bottles of water to storm-ravaged parts of the Bahamas. Together with Governor @RonDeSantisFL and the state of Florida, we stand ready to help our neighbors in the Bahamas by donating nine truckloads of water. #BahamasStrong pic.twitter.com/JEN1T1AVpK FPL (@insideFPL) September 10, 2019In advance of Dorian, Florida deployed 860,000 bottles of water and 1.8 million meals to counties that faced threats from the storm, and another 819,000 gallons of water were ready for distribution. Still, DeSantis and Florida Emergency Management Director Jared Moskowitz said the state likely will make other contributions along with donating the water.