Sen. McCain grills Boeing exec at confirmation hearing

It wasn’t easy for Patrick Shanahan, a longtime Boeing executive, during his confirmation hearing on Tuesday.

Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.), chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, warned President Trump’s nominee for deputy secretary of defense that if he can’t answer simple questions about the conflict in Ukraine, he won’t get his vote.

“In your questions that were submitted to you, one of the questions was about providing the Ukrainians with lethal defense weaponry with which to defend themselves,” McCain said. “Inexplicably you responded by saying that you would have to look at the issue. That’s not satisfactory, Mr. Shanahan. Would you wish to abridge or amend your statement concerning …”

“I support equipping the Ukrainians.”

“You support providing lethal defensive weaponry to Ukraine?”

“Yes.”

“Good, I’m glad to hear that, but I have to tell you, Mr. Shanahan, our job is advise and consent. We’re equal branches of government. Your response to that question was, frankly, very disappointing to me. You have been associated with the — I don’t know for how many years — with one of the five corporations that provide 90 percent of the weaponry to defend this nation and your answer was, ‘Well, I’d have to look at the issue.’ That’s not good enough, Mr. Shanahan. I’m glad to hear you have changed your opinion from what was submitted, but it’s still disturbing to me that, after all these years, that you would say that you would have to look at this issue. Have you not been aware of the issue? Have you not been aware of the Senate Armed Services Committee? Have you not been aware of the thousands of people who have been killed by Vladimir Putin? Have you missed all that in your duties at one of the major defense corporations of this country?”

“No, chairman, I’m aware of that.”

Other lawmakers criticized Shanahan’s lack of experience in the Defense Department, according to the Washington Post.

Washington state Senator Maria Cantwell had nothing but praise for Shanahan.

“He’s had an impressive 31-year career at the Boeing Co. and Mr. Shanahan managing the Boeing Co.’s highly complex in Renton and Everett, WA and Charleston, SC will prove invaluable at DOD,” Cantwell said. “He is also fearless. He understands what our country is up against when it comes to the Russians and the Chinese and the North Koreans. And it won’t phase him.”

As deputy secretary of defense, Shanahan would succeed Robert Work, a former Marine and Obama administration holdover. Work is the only senior Pentagon official from the prior administration still in place, although others have been performing the duties of senior officials in the absence of Trump nominees.

Shanahan moved up through the management ranks at Boeing over a career that began in 1986. The Puget Sound Business Journal called him a Boeing “fix-it” man in a March 2016 report on Shanahan’s promotion to his current position. He oversees the company’s global supply chain strategies and use of advanced manufacturing technologies. Shanahan was central to getting the 787 Dreamliner on track after production problems in the program’s early years, the report said.

Boeing’s website says Shanahan is a member of the company’s executive council, reporting directly to the chairman and president, Dennis Mullenburg. Shanahan previously was senior vice president of airplane programs from 2008 to 2016 and vice president and general manager of Boeing Missile Defense Systems. A Washington state native, Shanahan is currently chairman of the University of Washington’s Board of Regents. He holds a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Washington and two advanced degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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