In Final Months, SecDef to Aggressively Pursue Obama's Goals | Military.com: The Pentagon and State Department plan to aggressively pursue President Barack Obama's military and diplomatic goals in the remaining two months in office despite potential conflicts with the views of President-elect Donald Trump.
Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook said Defense Secretary Ashton Carter was committed to a "smooth and effective transition" to the next administration but also made a point to note "we do this job right, and we serve the current commander-in-chief."
Carter was "carrying out the policies of the current commander in chief," Cook said. "We have one commander-in-chief at a time. We leave it to the next administration to speak to their policy choices."
The press secretary and a State Department counterpart, Mark Toner, said the departments were following Obama's policies on Iran, Iraq, Syria, North Korea, China, NATO, and climate change -- all areas in which Trump has expressed pointed differences of opinion. However, Cook said "we're not going to get into a policy debate that was part of the campaign."
As for policy decisions by incoming administration officials, Cook told reporters Thursday at a Pentagon briefing, "You're best served by speaking to them."
