Former Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, who served under President-elect Donald Trump’s first term, responded to Trump 2.0 nominee Pete Hegseth’s confirmation hearing on Tuesday, positing that the military was only obligated to listen to Trump’s leadership for orders that are legal, adding that “it’s the duty of [Trump’s] cabinet, his advisors to inform the president if a duty, if an order is considered illegal. That’s the role I played, the chairman, the joint chiefs of staff and others. And I think that’s the expectation.”
“I would also argue they are duty bound first to give him their best military advice,” Esper told CNN’s Kasie Hunt Wednesday morning. “I think as Hegseth comes into office and others, I think a simple direction to the military, they will obey the legal orders and and follow the path that they direct, as long as, again, it’s a legal order.”
Esper continued: “And I think that’s how we need to look at the uniform. Military is balancing that tension between remaining apolitical, which we all want, the American people want, but at the same time making sure that there’s clear civilian control of the military.”
Per the U.S. Constitution’s Presidential Power and Commander in Chief Clause, a sitting president has the power to deploy forces abroad and commit them to military operations when the president “deems such action is necessary to maintain the security and defense of the United States.”
Hunt’s line of questioning came after Trump stated that he may use military force for a multitude of political goals, including most recently an effort to acquire the Panama Canal and Greenland. And in December, the president-elect proposed the use of military assets to help with the mass deportation of undocumented immigrants.
Trump nominated Hegseth, a former Fox News host, to lead the country’s Department of Defense back in November. When asked how certain he is that Hegseth would “stand up” to an unlawful order from Trump, Esper said that’s what senators in Hegseth’s confirmation hearing want to know: “How far does his loyalty lie.”
Watch the clip from “CNN This Morning” in the video above.
