The Department of Defense has announced its intention on Monday to appoint several Trump loyalists to join the Pentagon's Defense Policy Board, an independent advisory group that was established to provide advice and recommendations on defense policy matters to the secretary of defense and the deputy secretary of defense. Appointees include former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Newt Gingrich, former U.S. ambassador to the International Civil Aviation Organization Thomas Carter, military historian Edward Luttwak, Trump adviser, corporate executive and former naval officer Thomas Stewart, former Republican Virginia Rep. Randy Forbes, former Republican New Hampshire Sen. Robert Smith, former U.S. Ambassador to El Salvador Charles Glazer, and former fighter pilot Scott O'Grady, who was Trump’s nominee for assistant secretary of Defense for international security affairs.