Elaine A. McCusker is an American government official who served as Deputy

Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) The under secretary of defense (comptroller)/chief financial officer, abbreviated USD(C)/CFO, is a high level civilian official in the United States Department of Defense. The Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) is the principal staff assist ...

, one of the offices of

United States Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (DUSD) is the title for several high-ranking posts in the U.S. Department of Defense, requiring appointment by the president and are confirmed by the Senate by majority vote. There are currently six DUSDs, one for ...

, from 2017 to 2020. McCusker was nominated by President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

to become United States Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense in April 2017 and was confirmed on August 1, 2017. In November 2019, the White House announced that McCusker would be nominated to succeed

David Norquist David L. Norquist (born November 24, 1966) is an American financial management professional and government official who served as the 34th United States deputy secretary of defense from 2019 to 2021. In January 2021, he served for two days as act ...

as the

. On March 2, 2020 it was reported that her nomination was being withdrawn by the White House following reports that in 2019 she had warned that freezing military aid to Ukraine might not be legal.

Early life

McCusker is from

Pekin, Illinois Pekin () is a city in and the county seat of Tazewell County in the U.S. state of Illinois. Located on the Illinois River, Pekin is the largest city of Tazewell County and the second most populous municipality of the Peoria metropolitan area, a ...

, one of the daughters of William and Kathleen Brown McCusker. Her father was chairman of the board of the Illinois Federation for Right to Life. She is a graduate of

Peoria Notre Dame High School Peoria Notre Dame High School is a Catholic parochial high school in Peoria, Illinois. It is the largest school in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Peoria with approximately 815 students. It has a college preparatory curriculum, and according to the ...

and

Illinois Central College Illinois Central College (ICC) is a public community college with its main campus in East Peoria, Illinois. It is part of the Illinois Community College System and its district, Illinois Community College District 514, is a area covering most of ...

. In 1989 she received a Bachelor of Arts in political philosophy from the

University of Dallas The University of Dallas is a Private university, private Catholic church, Catholic university in Irving, Texas. Established in 1956, it is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. The university comprises four academi ...

, Texas.

Career

McCusker previously worked for the United States Energy Department's

Argonne National Laboratory Argonne National Laboratory is a science and engineering research United States Department of Energy National Labs, national laboratory operated by University of Chicago, UChicago Argonne LLC for the United States Department of Energy. The facil ...

, the

United States Senate Committee on Armed Services The Committee on Armed Services (sometimes abbreviated SASC for ''Senate Armed Services Committee'') is a committee of the United States Senate empowered with legislative oversight of the nation's military, including the Department of Defe ...

, the Pentagon Comptroller's office, and the Navy Department. At the Navy Department, she was a special assistant for the Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle program. McCusker contributed to announcements in September 2019 regarding Trump's plan to divert Pentagon funds to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. McCusker announced wall construction could begin as within three months on federally owned land. Construction of the wall on other government or privately owned land would commence at a later date, she noted. McCusker was identified as one of the federal officials with knowledge of President Trump's effort to keep Ukraine from receiving aid authorized by Congress. Emails that she sent and received regarding the matter were included in documents obtained by the

Center for Public Integrity The Center for Public Integrity (CPI) is an American nonprofit investigative journalism organization whose stated mission is "to reveal abuses of power, corruption and dereliction of duty by powerful public and private institutions in order to c ...

in response to a

Freedom of Information Act Freedom of Information Act may refer to the following legislations in different jurisdictions which mandate the national government to disclose certain data to the general public upon request: * Freedom of Information Act 1982, the Australian act * ...

request. Michael Duffey, a political appointee in White House's

Office of Management and Budget The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is the largest office within the Executive Office of the President of the United States (EOP). OMB's most prominent function is to produce the president's budget, but it also examines agency programs, pol ...

(OMB), emailed McCusker and others an hour and a half after Trump's call with Ukrainian leader Zelenksy, requesting they "hold off" on distributing aid to the Ukraine. McCusker then sent emails to the OMB expressing concern that by withholding funds from the Ukraine, the White House was violating the Impoundment Control Act, which requires that the executive branch spend appropriations that have been approved by

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...

. On June 16, 2020, she announced her resignation as Deputy Under Secretary, effective June 26.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McCusker, Elaine Living people People from Pekin, Illinois Illinois Central College alumni University of Dallas alumni Trump administration personnel United States Department of Defense officials Year of birth missing (living people)

Early life

Career

See also

References