WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump's nominee for Army secretary, businessman Vincent Viola, has withdrawn his name from consideration for the post.
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Defense Secretary Jim Mattis was disappointed but understood and respected Viola's decision, a Pentagon statement said. Mattis will recommend to Trump another candidate soon, the statement said.
A Trump administration official confirmed Friday night that Viola had withdrawn. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the official wasn't authorized to speak publicly.
The Military Times reported that Viola said in a statement that he was "deeply honored" to be nominated but cited his inability to successfully navigate the confirmation process and Defense Department rules concerning family businesses.
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Viola was the founder of several businesses, including the electronic trading firm Virtu Financial.
He also owns the National Hockey League's Florida Panthers and is a past chairman of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
A 1977 West Point graduate, Viola trained as an Airborne Ranger infantry officer and served in the 101st Airborne Division. In 2003, he founded and helped fund the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point.
Separately, Gov. John Kasich urged the confirmation of Trump's education secretary nominee.
The Republican governor and 2016 presidential contender didn't support Trump, but he praised Betsy DeVos for her character, experience and philosophy of limited government in a Jan. 24 letter to Sen. Lamar Alexander, who chairs the committee that handled her confirmation.
Kasich wrote that DeVos has built two of the most successful education organizations in the country: the Great Lakes Education Project and the American Federation for Children.
"I believe Betsy DeVos has the potential to usher in an era of real and meaningful education reforms in our country," Kasich wrote.
Senators voted 52-48 to cut off debate in an early morning session Friday, setting the stage for a final confirmation vote this week.
Kasich's backing of DeVos came as Democratic senators, including Ohio's Sherrod Brown, called for the $5.3 million in fines and penalties incurred by the former All Children Matter political action committee in 2008 to be repaid before DeVos was confirmed.
DeVos spokesman Ed Patru called Democrats' protest letter "a transparently political maneuver" seeking to revive a long-settled issue that derives from a lawsuit filed against her now-defunct political action committee.
He called the suit "a politically driven effort to derail education reform in Ohio" and noted that DeVos was not named in the suit nor held liable for the judgment.
Campaign finance records show that DeVos and her family members have given Kasich's campaigns for governor and president about $50,000.
Information for this article was contributed by Julie Carr Smyth of The Associated Press.
A Section on 02/05/2017