Lawmakers are Divided on Confirming Biden’s Secretary of Defense Nomination
WASHINGTON — President-elect Joe Biden’s nomination of Lloyd Austin has set up a tough question for Congress: confirm the first Black secretary of defense or reinforce a 73-year-old law designed to keep recently retired military officers from running the Pentagon.
Austin, 67, a four-star general, led the U.S. Central Command before retiring in 2016. He needs a waiver from a 1947 law that sought to bolster civilian control of the military by requiring a seven-year cooling-off period for officers after relief from active duty.
“I understand the importance of civilian control. I have some concerns about being asked to do a waiver,” Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, who sits on the Armed Services Committee that will oversee the nomination, said. “So I will be taking those into consideration.”
