Washington:
The US Senate confirmed retired basic Lloyd Austin as secretary of defense Friday, the second cabinet nominee of new President Joe Biden to obtain approval and the very first African American to lead the Pentagon.
Austin sailed by means of with overwhelming help from each Biden’s Democrats and opposition Republicans, who voted 93-2 in his favor.
The retired 4-star basic will be the very first African American to lead the Department of Defense, and requires on the job as the Pentagon sees the require for higher efforts to root out racism in the ranks and give more possibilities for leadership positions to minorities.
Biden picked Austin, and the Senate endorsed him, in spite of a law that says the US military should be led by a civilian or, if a former military official, a person who has been out of the service at least seven years.
The requirement is to make sure civilian manage of the military,
That meant each homes of Congress had to grant a waiver for Austin, who retired in 2016.
Biden chose a former officer he knew properly from when he was vice president in the administration of Barack Obama.
Austin, a West Point graduate who served 4 decades in the military, was commander of US forces in Iraq and then head of the US Central Command covering the Middle East, from 2010 to 2016.
The two bonded since Austin was friendly with Biden’s late son when each had been serving in Iraq.
Biden known as him “uniquely qualified to take on the challenges and crises we face in the current moment” when announcing the nomination in December.
Austin, recognized to be media-shy and not specifically politically savvy, tweeted a statement promptly soon after gaining Senate approval.
“It’s an honor and a privilege to serve as our country’s 28th Secretary of Defense, and I’m especially proud to be the first African American to hold the position,” he wrote.
“Let’s get to work.”
Key threats: China, extremism
He honed in on two urgent challenges facing the US military in his confirmation hearing on Tuesday.
He singled out China as the country’s most potent adversary.
Under his leadership, the Pentagon would “make sure that we are prepared to meet any challenge and that we continue to present a credible deterrent to China or any other aggressor who would want to take us on, and convince them that would be a really bad idea,” he mentioned.
He also pledged to tackle extremists in the forces, soon after some members of the military took element in the January 6 attack on the US Capitol by supporters of then-president Donald Trump.
“The activity that we’ve seen recently in terms of potential racists or extremist behavior within our ranks is in my view absolutely unacceptable,” Austin mentioned.
“The job of the Department of Defense is to keep America safe from our enemies. But we can’t do that if some of those enemies lie within our own ranks,” he added.
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