WASHINGTON — Retired Gen. Lloyd Austin has been confirmed as President Biden’s Pentagon chief, becoming the first African American defense secretary and overcoming strong confirmation headwinds from both parties.
The Senate on Friday overwhelmingly voted to confirm Austin, 93-2.
Austin, a four-star general who retired in 2016, needed to obtain a waiver from Congress to override a law that says a defense secretary must wait seven years after active service to take the top civilian post.
Lawmakers had been wary about granting a second waiver after granting one to President Donald Trump’s first defense secretary, retired Gen. Jim Mattis, but eventually voted to confirm Austin.
A number of House Democrats last month asked Austin, the former leader of US Central Command, to commit to ensuring civilian control of the military.
Biden praised Austin’s leadership and urged Congress to approve the waiver, which the House eventually did in another bipartisan 326-78 vote Thursday.
“We need his firsthand knowledge of the immeasurable cost of war, and the burden it places on our service members and their families, to help bring to an end the forever wars and ensure that the use of force is the last tool in our toolbox, not the first,” Biden said earlier this month.
Austin, only the sixth African American to hold the rank of an Army four-star general and the first to lead an Army corps in combat, is a historic Pentagon chief but was not the first choice for the role.
Pentagon veteran Michele Flournoy, who served as a defense undersecretary under President Barack Obama and deputy assistant secretary of defense under President Bill Clinton, was considered Biden’s first pick and would have been the first woman to run the Pentagon.
Democratic Sens. John Tester of Montana and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut last month came out against granting Austin a waiver and were among the 17 Democrats in the Senate who voted against doing the same for Mattis in 2017.
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said he would vote to confirm Austin, calling him “a clear patriot with an impressive career,” but warned Congress against continuing to ignore the waiver.
“It’s not just about a simplistic fear that the military will end up running itself. To the contrary, many experts worry that military leaders’ appropriate fixation on being nonpolitical may not prepare them to fight forcefully for our Armed Forces amid the political rough-and-tumble in the executive branch and here in Congress,” McConnell said.
Austin is the second member of Biden’s cabinet to be confirmed, following Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines.