Why Defense Secretary Esper's Days May Be Numbered

Why Defense Secretary Esper's Days May Be Numbered

Business Insider reports Secretary of Defense Mark Esper is in hot water with top White House brass.

Esper said on Wednesday that he opposed sending active-duty troops to respond to protests and unrest except in the "most urgent and dire of situations." He said the current situation didn't merit such a drastic response and that he doesn't support invoking the Insurrection Act.

The Insurrection Act was last invoked in 1992, at the request of the governor of California, to assist with the Rodney King riots.

The act allows the president to deploy the military to quell domestic unrest.

Multiple news outlets report top White House officials are "not happy" with Esper's remarks, and some say Esper may be on shaky ground in his job security.

Esper was already under fire for telling governors that they should use the National Guard to "dominate the battlespace" in a reference to protesters.

He also accompanied President Donald Trump to Trump's controversial, Bible-holding photo op.