It is not clear who will lead the Pentagon when Trump takes office. What happens then?

WASHINGTON (AP) – It is unclear who will take over the Pentagon and the military services when the top leaders everyone steps down Monday as President-elect Donald Trump is sworn into office.

As of Friday, officials said they had not yet heard who will be acting defense secretary. Officials said the military chiefs of the Army, Navy and Air Force were preparing to step in as acting service secretaries — a rare move — because no civilians had been named or, in some cases, declined the option.

As is customary, all current political appointees will step down from 12:00 a.m. EST on Inauguration Day, leaving hundreds of key defense positions open, including dozens that require Senate confirmation. In addition to the top job and all three service secretaries, all their deputies and senior political staff are leaving.

The Senate Armed Services Committee is expected to vote on Monday on Trump’s pick to lead the Defense Department, Pete Hegseth, but the full Senate vote may not take place until days later. As a result, someone from the Biden administration had to temporarily take over.

For the service secretaries, officials said that while things could still change before the inauguration, the Trump team is looking at Gen. Randy George, Chief of Staff of the Army, as the interim chief of that service. They said that General David Allvin, Chief of Staff of the Air Force, and Adm. Lisa Franchetti, the Navy chief, is aware that they may have to step in if no civilian is named acting secretary, and they are preparing for that possibility.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal considerations, said many senior Biden administration officials are reluctant to serve in the incoming Trump administration because they are concerned about political changes they may be required to handle or enforce.

Normally, only individuals appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate serve as Secretary of Defense or Services, including in an acting capacity during a transition. Trump could pull a confirmed member of the Biden administration from another agency and put that person in the Pentagon.

Civilian control of the military is a key principle, but under the law the military commanders of the services – all of whom are confirmed in the Senate – can take over on an interim basis. It is rare, but it happened more than 30 years ago.

Arnold Punaro, a retired Marine Corps Reserve two-star general, said Adm. Frank Kelso, who was a Navy chief, in 1993 was asked to serve as acting Navy secretary when Bill Clinton became president because civilian leaders did not step up.

“It doesn’t happen very often,” said Punaro, who spent 14 years as staff director of the Senate Armed Services Committee and has advised nominees through the confirmation process for decades. “Normally you don’t want the military on active duty. serving in the civilian control positions. The practical reality is that they wear both hats.”

The transition to a new defense minister has usually been an orderly process.

Four years ago, Trump’s deputy defense secretary, David Norquist, became acting secretary for the two-day gap between the inauguration of Democratic President Joe Biden and the Senate’s vote to confirm Lloyd Austin as Pentagon chief.

President Barack Obama asked his Republican predecessor’s defense secretary, Robert Gates, to stay on as his own Pentagon chief in 2009.

In 2017, Jim Mattis, Trump’s pick to be secretary in his first term, was confirmed on Inauguration Day.

Different administrations have handled the handover differently. In many cases, people have been asked to stay in a temporary position. In one recent case, officials said, the comptroller of the services stepped in as acting secretaries because a key task in the coming months is putting together the massive, complex budget and, more often, the money people consider less political.

This year’s divide is further complicated by the fact that Trump and Hegseth have both vowed to rid the Defense Department of what they call “woke” generals — or those who have supported diversity programs. That raises the possibility that even as the administration struggles to fill its political appointees, it may also be cutting holes in the military leadership structure that need to be filled.

Da Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., asked Hegseth during his nomination hearing if he intended to fire the current Joint Chiefs chairman, Gen. CQ Brown, he replied: “Senator, every single senior officer will be reviewed based on meritocracy, standards, lethality and commitment to lawful orders they will be given.”

Hegseth previously said Brown should be fired. Conservative groups have compiled lists of generals they believe should be fired for supporting diversity programs. If Brown is fired, the vice chairman will take over until a new chairman is confirmed.

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Associated Press writer Tara Copp contributed to this report.