Wrap up: Rubio for secretary of state; Hegseth concerns; Russia could pull from enviro deal; Leidos good third quarter

President elect Donald Trump said this week he would tap Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) as his eventual pick for Secretary of State.

Rubio has advocated for a more hawkish stance on Iran in the past, gunning for more sanctions to curb the Islamic republic’s nuclear program. He has also spoken against the Iran nuclear deal during the Barack Obama administration and against the U.S. re-entering it.

Rubio has also expressed concern over Russian aggression, and has said the U.S. should be more aggressive with China.

Analysts told the Exchange Monitor’s sister publication Defense Daily that they see a “very difficult” pathway to confirm Trump’s secretary of defense pick, Fox News host and Army veteran Pete Hegseth.

“Hegseth is an extremely unusual selection who does not have an established record on foreign policy and defense issues,” Roman Schweizer, an analyst with TD Cowen, wrote on Wednesday, noting the Fox News host is a “strident supporter and defender” of Trump.

The newly elected Senate Republican leader John Thune (R-S.D.) told reporters this week that he was open to recess appointments to skirt the traditional confirmation process. The recess appointment process could potentially be used to quickly install Trump’s nominee to lead the Pentagon. A version of this story first appeared in Exchange Monitor affiliate publication Defense Daily.

Moscow intends to withdraw from an environmental agreement with the European Union from 2003 that secured spent nuclear fuel and radioactive waste in the Murmansk region, a Russian municipality close to Finland near the Arctic Circle, Russian state-owned newspaper Interfax reported Monday.

The Russian government reportedly has prepared a response denouncing the framework agreement on the Multilateral Nuclear Environmental Program in the Russian Federation (MNEPR) deal, Interfax said.

The MNEPR deal was signed in Stockholm and featured several European countries, Russia, the United States, the European Commission, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the European Atomic Energy Community.

Leidos reported a strong third quarter at the end of October, partly led by its defense segments, as net income swung to $362 million, or $2.68 earnings a share, versus a loss of $396 million, or $2.91 earnings a share a year ago.

At the operating level, the Defense Systems segment generated a more than 11-fold increase in operating income on program execution and double-digit sales growth. The National Security and Digital segment also boasted a double-digit increase in operating income, despite a slight sales gain, on improved program efficiencies.

Leidos is a part of the Bechtel-led Consolidated Nuclear Security joint venture that manages and operates the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn. A version of this story first appeared in Exchange Monitor affiliate publication Defense Daily.