President-elect Donald Trump boarded Air Force One on Saturday to return to Washington, D.C., for his second inauguration. Newsweek reached out to the Trump transition team for comment by email on Saturday evening.

If confirmed, Troy Meink would inherit key decisions about the Air Force's fighter force and how to right-size the Space Force as it takes on new missions.

Troy Meink's specialization in space could upend the priorities of a service typically dominated by Air Force interests.

Lohmeier, a former fighter pilot, was a lieutenant colonel in the Space Force when he was fired after going on a conservative podcast to promote his self-published book, "Irresistible Revolution: Marxism's Goal of Conquest & the Unmaking of the American Military,