Cabinet secretaries come and go. But you wouldn't think it watching the Obama White House.
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel's resignation came two days before Washington's NFL team benched quarterback Robert Griffin III. But to some old hands, it was tough to determine where dysfunction reigned more supreme — inside the West Wing or at Redskins Park.
"Hagel did exactly what they wanted him to do," Larry Korb, a senior member of President Barack Obama's 2008 campaign and a former Pentagon official, said.
Many national security insiders have pointed to a now-infamous leaked memo from Hagel to National Security Adviser Susan Rice as a big reason for his ouster.
"It's your policy, and if I'm Hagel, as the defense secretary, I'm looking at it and I'm voicing these concerns — but not publicly," Korb said. "That's his job. He was doing his job!"
Before Hagel and Obama publicly discussed the resignation, Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., seemed to sprint from the SecDef post.
Two days later, former DoD policy chief Michèle Flournoy bowed out.
Suddenly, the White House is lurching from candidate to candidate like the 2014 Redskins lurch from QB to QB.
To fill a job no one wants, perhaps Obama should offer it to someone doing a job that so often doesn't seem all that great: being a member of Congress.
Sen. Claire McCaskill. The Missouri Democrat is tough as nails and reform-minded. Obama tapped Hagel in part to bring change to the Defense Department.
If the president still envisions change at the Pentagon, McCaskill seems one of the few lawmakers with the steely resolve to get it done — and to say no to the generals and admirals.
Several faces lit up when I mentioned McCaskill. But McCaskill appears more interested in becoming governor.
Sen. Carl Levin. Perhaps no one on Capitol Hill is better positioned to transition to the Pentagon than the retiring Armed Services Committee chairman.
Several sources pointed to the Michigan Democrat's age — he turned 80 in June — as a potential disqualifier. But anyone who's seen Levin lately knows he's plenty spry, energetic and engaged.
Levin will speak his mind. And he'd have little to lose. Would that make Obama question his trustworthiness?
"Levin would be a fine pick," Korb said, "but he would be a placeholder pick."
Rep. Adam Smith. This reporter asked Korb whom he would endorse if the president asked him for a name. He didn't hesitate.
"Adam Smith," he said. "No doubt about it. He's strong. He's forceful." And "his positions are very much in keeping with their views. ... I think he would be the ideal candidate for them."
No one thought Colt McCoy would become the Redskins starting QB. Is the House Armed Services Committee ranking Democrat Obama's McCoy?
"At the moment, we are not commenting on these," a Smith aide said via email when asked if the boss has been contacted about the job.
"That's not a no..." I wrote back. No response. ■
