Acting Pentagon chief to certify emergency to help build wall — and win Trump's favor
WASHINGTON - It's an anxious loyalty test for acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan, whose future at the Pentagon is anything but certain.
Sometime in the next few days, Shanahan plans to endorse President Donald Trump's declaration of a national emergency along the southern border, according to people familiar with his thinking. That will free up $3.6 billion in the Pentagon budget for building new sections of border wall and other projects.
It likely will also prove costly to Shanahan, a former Boeing executive who hopes Trump will nominate him as a permanent replacement for former Defense Secretary James N.
