The twin episodes have many in Washington asking: How could this happen? Why would these senior officials believe they could hide controversial information for years while they publicly swore to be transparent with Congress and the American people? But although both Shanahan and Thompson made errors of judgment, primary blame lies with the White House, which put them in these situations in the first place.

“In the near 15 years that I have served on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, I have not seen anything like what the administration has sent our way,” Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) told me, reacting to my column that Thompson failed to disclose personal and financial ties to the boyfriend of convicted Russian agent Maria Butina. “Political nominees who are utterly unqualified for their positions; political nominees who have engaged in behavior that should disqualify them from any position representing the United States; political nominees who have not been forthcoming with the committee; and sometimes all of the above.”

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Thompson, a former national security adviser for Vice President Pence, stayed quiet for 18 months after it was publicly revealed that her friend and wedding officiant, who also allegedly stole $100,000 from her husband, was under investigation for working with Russian agents against the United States. Meanwhile, she proceeded to take a job leading arms-control negotiations with Moscow.

Shanahan resigned after he failed to quash a years-old story about family troubles. My Post colleagues reported they had been engaging Shanahan about the story since January, months before he was nominated to lead the Pentagon. Perhaps because he already passed through one Senate confirmation, he thought he could survive another. But he was wrong.

Of course, Shanahan and Thompson are not the first Trump administration officials to face controversy because of lapses in vetting and disclosure. Rob Porter, a former White House staff secretary; Heather Nauert, President Trump’s onetime pick to be U.N. ambassador; and Ronny L. Jackson, who was chosen to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs, all had scandals after past actions surfaced that the White House should have been aware of.

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But officials I talked to this week said the problem is not primarily vetting; it’s political. There’s nobody in the White House with responsibility or accountability for the political implications of these personal situations.

“Who is making decisions about what is politically viable for these nominations in the Senate?” one administration official told me. “That used to be a Karl Rove type and, now, nobody is making those decisions.”

There’s a temptation by politicians to blame the FBI for bad vetting, but some in the White House knew about Shanahan’s family problems, and they never told Congress. Christian Brose, who in 2017 was the Senate Armed Services Committee staff director under then-Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.), tweeted this week that he had no idea about the nominee’s family issues during Shanahan’s confirmation process two years ago to become deputy defense secretary.

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At the time, ranking Democrat Jack Reed (R.I.) was somewhat aware of Shanahan’s contentious divorce but never knew the details. In 2017, that was understandable. But this time, Shanahan’s situation was an open secret in Washington for weeks as teams of reporters from several outlets carefully worked the story, all publishing extensive reports when Shanahan finally came clean.

It was obvious for weeks to many in Washington that the story would eventually come out and Shanahan would have to withdraw. Yet, Sen. James M. Inhofe (R-Okla.), the current chairman of the Armed Services Committee, told reporters on Tuesday morning that he believed the nomination was still on track. Trump called him just hours before the withdrawal announcement and said, “I want you to be the first to know.”

Shanahan and Thompson could be forgiven for believing that hiding embarrassing information is tolerated in the Trump administration, considering that the president has ordered his officials to ignore congressional requests and has masked his own personal scandals.

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They are both patriotic Americans who saw an opportunity to serve their country and, yes, advance their careers. But they were both out of their depth regarding policy and also regarding politics. For senior national security officials, hidden secrets are intelligence vulnerabilities. But they are also political vulnerabilities.

Shanahan and Thompson made mistakes, but the White House set them up for failure and another national embarrassment. The true responsibility falls on the man at the top, who created this culture. But, once again, it is those under him who will suffer, along with our country’s security and reputation.