Trump's pick for Army secretary drops out: official

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump's nominee for Army secretary, Mark Green, withdrew his name from consideration for the position, a White House official said on Friday.

Green, who is the third Trump nominee for a service secretary position to withdraw, has faced criticism from rights groups and lawmakers over allegations about past comments regarding minorities as well as lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender, or LGBT, people.

In a statement, Green said "false and misleading attacks" had driven him to withdraw.

“Tragically, my life of public service and my Christian beliefs have been mischaracterized and attacked by a few on the other side of the aisle for political gain," he said.

"While these false attacks have no bearing on the needs of the Army or my qualifications to serve, I believe it is critical to give the President the ability to move forward with his vision to restore our military to its rightful place in the world."

U.S. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement that Green's decision to stand down was "good news for all Americans."

It was especially good for those "who were personally vilified by his disparaging comments directed toward the LGBTQ community, Muslim community, Latino community and more," Schumer said.

Green served in the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment where he made three combat tours to the Middle East.

(Reporting by Idrees Ali and Roberta Rampton, editing by G Crosse and Tom Brown)

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