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Pentagon Head Recuses Himself from $10 Billion Cloud Bid

  • Esper delegates JEDI oversight to deputy over son’s employer
  • Amazon, Microsoft still in running for lucrative contract
Mark Esper
Mark EsperPhotographer: Brendan Smialowski/AFP
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Defense Secretary Mark Esper is recusing himself from any decisions involving a controversial Pentagon cloud computing contract worth as much as $10 billion, to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest.

Esper will delegate oversight of the contract to Deputy Secretary David Norquist because his son works with one of the original applicants, according to a statement from the Pentagon Tuesday.