Trump's defence secretary Mark Esper dodges questions on military involvement in election

Defence secretary Mark Esper has refused to be drawn on questions surrounding military involvement at polling stations in November's election and subsequent transfer of power should president Donald Trump lose to his Democratic challenger, Joe Biden.

In a short written answer submitted to Congress and released on Tuesday, Mr Esper, 56, told lawmakers only that "the US military has acted, and will continue to act, in accordance with the Constitution and the law”.

Mr Esper was responding to questions from Democratic representatives Elissa Slotkin (Michigan) and Mikie Sherrill (New Jersey), who had asked the former US army officer if he would refuse an order from his boss to send troops to voting sites, and whether he would commit to a peaceful transfer of power should the president lose to Mr Biden, 77.

Mr Esper responded to both questions with the same answer and a Pentagon spokesperson later defended his written submission, saying he had "clearly avoided wading into deliberately phrased and politically-tinged questions from members".

"Rep. Slotkin and I put questions to the secretary of defence and the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff in July to ensure that our military leaders understand the role and responsibilities of our military in an election," Ms Sherrill said in response to Mr Esper's answer.

"We have not received a direct commitment from secretary Esper that he will refuse commands from an illegitimate president. Given the fact that the president has used our military for partisan purposes in the past and that the president has suggested he will not concede if he loses, it is incumbent upon the secretary of defence to fulfil his constitutional duties and ensure the apolitical role of the military," she added.

The defence secretary's stance appears to be somewhat at odds with the views of his colleague, top general Mark Milley, who last week categorically ruled out military involvement in any capacity — whether that be at the polls or in dealing with any potential fall out from the result.

"We, the US military, we are sworn to obey the lawful orders of our civilian leadership," the joint chiefs of staff told NPR's Morning Edition. "And we want to ensure that there is always civilian leadership, civilian control of the military, and we will obey the lawful orders of civilian control of the military."

He added: "This isn't the first time that someone has suggested that there might be a contested election. And if there is, it'll be handled appropriately by the courts and by the US Congress. There's no role for the US military in determining the outcome of a US election. Zero. There is no role there."

Trailing his rival in most major polls by a considerable margin, Mr Trump, 74, has repeatedly declined to rule out contesting the result of November's poll. As millions of Americans vote by post due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the president has claimed — without evidence — that mail ballots could fall foul to fraud.

“We’re going to have to see what happens,” Mr Trump told reporters late last month, responding to a question about whether he’d commit to a peaceful transfer of power. “You know that I’ve been complaining very strongly about the ballots, and the ballots are a disaster.”