Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work will retain his current role after President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration to work with defense secretary nominee James Mattis on management issues in the military,  DoD Buzz reported Monday.

Ricard Sisk writes Work said at a farewell ceremony in the Pentagon that he will stay at the Defense Department until his successor as the military’s second-highest civilian leader is confirmed.

Work received DoD’s highest civilian honor called the Distinguished Public Service Award at the ceremony, DoD News reported Friday.

Cheryl Pellerin writes Work received the award for efforts to lead the third offset strategy’s development and the maintenance of conventional deterrence.

The award citation stated that Work guided DoD through three planning, programming, budgeting and execution cycles, Pellerin reported.

Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said Work served as the point man in DoD’s push for budget investments across the military services.

Philip Bilden, a former managing director at investment firm HarbourVest Partners, has emerged as a top candidate for secretary of the U.S. Navy in President-elect Donald Trump’s administration, the Washington Post reported Friday.

Josh Rogin cited a transition official as saying that Trump could nominate Bilden to succeed Navy Secretary Ray Mabus as early as this week.

Bilden established and managed HarbourVest’ Asian subsidiary after he relocated to Hong Kong in 1996.

Bilden currently serves as a trustee of the Naval War College Foundation and has supported some efforts of the Naval Academy Foundation, Naval War College Foundation and the Republican Party in a bid to establish a connection with the military and government, Colin Clark reported for Breaking Defense.

Clark wrote that Randy Forbes, former chairman of the House Armed Services subcommittee on seapower, was eyed as the frontrunner for Navy secretary before Bilden floated as a potential nominee.

The House voted 268-151 Friday to pass a congressional waiver that would permit retired Marine Corps Gen. James Mattis to lead the Defense Department under the Trump administration once he is confirmed, The Hill newspaper reported Friday.

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest told reporters at a press briefing Friday that President Barack Obama will sign the legislation if Congress passes the measure before the president’s term ends, Rebecca Kheel wrote.

Mattis retired in 2013 and needs a waiver that will exempt him from a law that requires former military officials to wait seven years after retirement from active duty to serve as U.S. defense secretary, according to Kheel.

The Senate approved the waiver in an 81-17 vote Thursday.

Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Texas), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said there are “legitimate” concerns on the process and wording of the waiver but lawmakers need to approve the measure to prevent a gap in Defense Department leadership, Politico reported.

Mattis still have to gain full Senate confirmation to become DoD’s civilian leader, according to the report by Connor O’Brien and Jeremy Herb.

Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr (R-North Carolina) and Vice Chairman Mark Warner (D-Virginia) plan to launch an inquiry into the scope of Russian intelligence efforts that have affected the U.S.

Burr and Warner said in a joint statement published Friday the panel will review any information that potentially supports a U.S. intelligence community’s assessment of Russian efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election.

The committee also plans to investigate counterintelligence concerns about Russia and persons associated with political campaigns as well as Russian activity in cyberspace and other “active measures” that targeted the U.S.

The bipartisan inquiry will also include interviews of outgoing and incoming senior government officials and the panel expects to produce unclassified and classified reports on the findings of its investigation, Burr and Warner added.

Both senators said the Director of National Intelligence assured that the IC will support the committee’s requests for information concerning the inquiry.

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Arizona) has released a white paper that seeks to propose a base budget of $640 billion for the Defense Department and $60 billion in overseas contingency operations funds for fiscal year 2018, the Washington Examiner reported Monday.

David Brown and Jacqueline Klimas write McCain’s base budget proposal for DoD in the paper titled Restoring American Power would be $54 billion higher than President Barack Obama’s planned budget.

The document aims to lay out plans to facilitate a military build-up over the next five years that include a DoD base budget of $750.5 billion by FY 2022 and procurement of 59 ships.

McCain’s white paper reflects a $430 billion increase over the Obama administration’s current plans over a five-year period, according to a report by Joe Gould for Defense News.

He also proposed to cap the littoral combat ship program to 28 vessels in 2017 in an effort to start the purchase of small surface combatant ships by 2022.

Other proposals in McCain’s white paper include the procurement of additional 58 Boeing-built F/A-18 E/F Super Hornets and 16 more EA-18G Growler aircraft by the U.S. Navy, efforts to increase the U.S. Marines Corps’ service personnel to 200,000 by 2022, and the U.S. Air Force’s sustainment of the A-10 fighter fleet and acquisition of 300 light-attack fighter jets by 2022.