Contact Jordan LaPier Director (202) 495-3320 jlapier@ourpublicservice.org Chaotic presidential transition brings vulnerability, security risks to nation November 11, 2020 President Trump’s firing of Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper, days after losing the election, and a Pentagon personnel shake-up that has followed have injected uncertainty into the ranks of national security leadership at a vulnerable moment for the United States, adding more turmoil to a period that already carries risk for the nation.