Senate verifies Lloyd Austin as America’s very first Black secretary of Defense

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Senate confirms Lloyd Austin as America's first Black secretary of Defense

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Gen. Lloyd Austin, candidate to be Defense secretary, participates in the inauguration prior to Joe Biden was sworn in as the 46th President of the United States on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, January 20, 2021.

Tom Williams | CQ-Roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images

WASHINGTON – The Senate verified Lloyd Austin as the next Pentagon chief Friday, making him the country’s very first Black Defense secretary.

The Senate voted 93 to 2 to validate Austin.

Austin’s verification follows Wednesday’s Senate verification of Avril Haines, who ended up being the very first female to the lead country’s 18 intelligence companies as the director of nationwide intelligence.

In back-to-back votes Thursday, the House and Senate passed legislation giving Austin, a retired four-star Army basic, a waiver to lead the Pentagon. The Senate authorized Austin’s waiver by a vote of 69-27 and the House authorized the waiver by a vote of 326 to 78.

Under the National Security Act of 1947, Congress has actually restricted any specific from working as secretary of Defense within 7 years of active-duty service. Austin left the Army in 2016 and for that reason needed an unique congressional waiver in order to bypass the seven-year guideline.

Former President Donald Trump’s initially Defense secretary, James Mattis, a retired four-star Marine Corps basic, likewise required the exact same waiver from Congress.

Before ending up being the 28th secretary of Defense, Austin acted as a board member at defense giant Raytheon. Trump’s previous Pentagon chiefs Mattis, Mark Esper and acting secretary of defense Patrick Shanahan likewise had ties to defense titans General Dynamics, Raytheon and Boeing.

The 1975 graduate of West Point would be the very first Black leader of the Pentagon, breaking among the more long-lasting barriers in the U.S. federal government.