situation where they might have to speak more publicly, where he might have to speak more publicly in a confirmation hearing about something that was intensely personal to his family. by all accounts, he was looking at all of this and deciding throughout today whether he wanted to put his children through that again. that's where we are right now on our understanding of the situation. but on the broader national security stage, here's the situation. he's the acting secretary of defense. he is scheduled to travel to nato in the coming days for a defense minister y. he is scheduled to travel to asia. the iran situation heats up by the day. talking to allies about that, trying to get other countries in the middle east to also engage in deterrent activities against iran. how long he will stay in this acting position we don't know.