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Top Pentagon policy official resigns day after Trump fires defense secretary

WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 07: James H. Anderson testifies on his nomination to be a Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy before the Senate Armed Services committee at the U.S. capital in Washington D.C. Thursday, May 7, 2020. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch-Pool/Getty Images)

(CNN) — The Pentagon’s top policy official, James Anderson, resigned Tuesday, according to two US defense officials, a day after President Donald Trump fired Secretary of Defense Mark Esper.

Anderson has been serving as the acting Under Secretary of Defense for Policy since John Rood was fired by the Trump administration in February due to disagreements on a range of policy issues.

It was not immediately clear whether Anderson was asked to resign.

Anderson has been at the Pentagon since 2018, serving first as the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy, Plans, and Capabilities and later became the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy before taking over the top policy job upon Rood’s ouster.

This story is breaking and will be updated.