White House To Hold Interviews With Pentagon Officials Ahead Of US Election - Reports

White House to Hold Interviews With Pentagon Officials Ahead of US Election - Reports

White House staffers are set to interview all political appointees at the Defense Department over the coming weeks, the Foreign Policy magazine reports, citing officials who said that the interviews may be used to gauge loyalty to Donald Trump ahead of the upcoming US presidential election

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 04th July, 2020) White House staffers are set to interview all political appointees at the Defense Department over the coming weeks, the Foreign Policy magazine reports, citing officials who said that the interviews may be used to gauge loyalty to Donald Trump ahead of the upcoming US presidential election.

"I think the assumption is correct - aligned with Trump or you're out," a former Trump administration official told the magazine.

On Wednesday, the White House liaison office circulated an email to Defense Department political appointees making them aware of the need to schedule an interview with staffers.

"This is an opportunity for each appointee to discuss their career and interests for 2021 and beyond," the email read, as quoted by the magazine.

The interviews will be conducted by representatives from the Presidential Personnel Office, the magazine said, adding that plans are in the works for White House staffers to also meet with appointees at the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security.

On Thursday, the magazine reported that the Presidential Personnel Office has attempted to force the Pentagon to hire Rich Higgins, a former National Security Council staffer who previously posted Islamophobic tweets and was fired for circulating conspiracy theories. The Defense Department was reportedly against the appointment.

President Trump will attempt to win a second term in office on November 3, the date of the upcoming US presidential election.