Acting Secretary of the Army Eric Fanning has stepped down because Senate Republicans have been blocking his official confirmation as Secretary of the Army for nearly five months.
A hold was placed on his confirmation in September of last year after reports surfaced that President Obama may unilaterally close the prison at Guantanamo Bay.
According to The Associated Press, Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) placed a hold on Fanning's nomination as a protest over President Obama's ongoing bid to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility and bring remaining detainees to a facility in the U.S.
Roberts's home state of Kansas contains some of the locations under consideration to house those detainees, as do South Carolina and Colorado.
As you may recall, Senator Roberts theorized that foreign terrorists may penetrate our borders and launch some kind of dramatic underwater rescue of nameless detainees held in his home state of Kansas.
“Fort Leavenworth is neither the ideal nor right location for moving Guantánamo detainees,” Roberts wrote to Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter. “The installation lies right on the Missouri River, providing terrorists with the possibility of covert travel underwater and attempting access to the detention facility.”
Under Secretary of the Army Patrick Murphy will now serve as the acting secretary while congressional Republicans continue to play grabass with the confirmation process.
It seems plausible to me Eric Fanning will not be confirmed before President Obama leaves office. Republicans have blocked other confirmations for a much longer duration.
Fanning was the first openly gay military service secretary, or at least he will be if Republicans ever confirm him. I wouldn't bet on it.