Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
New defense chief reports
Senate panel favors Yellen to become nation’s 1st female treasury secretary
WASHINGTON — Lloyd Austin, a West Point graduate who rose to the Army’s elite ranks and marched through racial barriers in a 41-year career, received Senate confirmation Friday to become the nation’s first Black secretary of defense.
The 93-2 vote gave President Joe Biden his second Cabinet member; Avril Haines was confirmed Wednesday as the first woman to serve as director of national intelligence. Biden is expected to get approval for others on his national security team in coming days, including Antony Blinken as secretary of state.
Also Friday, the Senate Finance Committee approved the nomination of Janet Yellen to be the nation’s 78th treasury secretary, setting up a final vote that would make her the first woman to hold that job.
Biden is looking for Austin to restore stability atop the Pentagon, which went through two Senate-confirmed secretaries of defense and four who held the post on an interim basis during the Trump administration. The only senators who voted against Austin were Republicans Mike Lee of Utah and Josh Hawley of Missouri.
Before heading to the Pentagon, Austin wrote on Twitter that he is especially proud to be the first Black secretary of defense. “Let’s get to work,” he wrote.
And a short time later he arrived at the Pentagon’s River Entrance, where he was greeted by holdover Deputy Defense Secretary David Norquist, who has been the acting secretary since Wednesday, and Army Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Austin was sworn in and was to receive an intelligence briefing, then confer with senior civilian and military officials on the covid-19 crisis. He also planned to speak by phone with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and to receive briefings about China and the Middle East.
Some of the global problems on Austin’s plate are familiar to him, including one of the thorniest — Afghanistan. The White House said Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, told his Afghan counterpart in a phone call Friday that the new administration will review the February 2020 deal that the Trump administration struck with the Taliban that requires the U.S. to withdraw all of its troops by May.
President Donald Trump ordered U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan cut to 2,500 just days before he left office, presenting Biden with decisions about how to retain leverage against the Taliban in support of peace talks.
Austin’s confirmation was complicated by his status as a recently retired general. He required a waiver of a legal prohibition on a military officer serving as secretary of defense within seven years of retirement. Austin retired in 2016 after serving as the first Black general to head U.S. Central Command. He was the first Black vice chief of staff of the Army in 2012 and served as director of the Joint Staff, a behind-the-scenes job that gave him an intimate view of the Pentagon’s inner workings.
The House and the Senate approved the waiver Thursday, clearing the way for the Senate confirmation vote.
Austin, a large man with a booming voice and a tendency to shy from publicity, describes himself as the son of a postal worker and a homemaker from Thomasville, Ga.
At his confirmation hearing Tuesday, Austin said he had not sought the nomination but was ready to lead the Pentagon without clinging to his military status and with full awareness that being a political appointee and Cabinet member requires “a different perspective and unique duties from a career in uniform.”
As vice president, Biden worked closely with Austin in 2010-11 to wind down U.S. military involvement in Iraq while Austin was the top U.S. commander in Baghdad. American forces withdrew entirely, only to return in 2014 after the Islamic State captured large swaths of Iraqi territory. At Central Command, Austin was a key architect of the strategy to defeat the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
Biden said in December when he announced Austin as his nominee that he considered him “the person we need at this moment,” and that he trusts Austin to ensure civilian control of the military. Critics of the nomination have questioned the wisdom of making an exception to the law against a recently retired military officer serving as defense secretary, noting that the prohibition was put in place to guard against undue military influence in national security matters.
Austin has promised to surround himself with qualified civilians. And he made clear at his confirmation hearing that he embraces Biden’s early focus on combating the coronavirus pandemic.
Austin also pledged to address white supremacy and violent extremism in the ranks of the military.
“The Defense Department’s job is to keep America safe from our enemies,” he said. “But we can’t do that if some of those enemies lie within our own ranks.”
YELLEN NOMINATION
The Finance Committee approved Yellen’s nomination on a 26-0 vote. The administration is urging a quick confirmation vote in the full Senate, saying it’s critical to get the top member of Biden’s economic team in place as the Democratic president seeks to win approval of a $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief plan.
The vote could happen as soon as Monday.
Republicans on the committee said they had a number of policy disagreements with Yellen and the Biden administration in such areas as raising taxes on corporations and the wealthy but believed it was important to allow Biden to assemble his economic team quickly.
At her confirmation hearing before the Finance Committee on Tuesday, Yellen argued that without prompt action the nation faced the threat of a “longer, more painful recession.” She urged quick action on the package that would provide an additional $1,400 in payments to individuals making below $75,000 a year, as well as providing expanded unemployment benefits, further aid for small businesses, and support for cities and states to prevent layoffs.
The plan also provides more support for vaccine production and distribution.
Yellen faced substantial pushback on the plan from Republicans on the committee who argued that the package was too large, especially at a time that the federal budget deficit has soared above $3 trillion. They also objected to such measures as an increase in the minimum wage to $15 per hour.
As treasury secretary, Yellen, 74, would occupy a pivotal role in shaping and directing Biden’s economic policies. She would enter the position after many years serving in other top economic jobs, including becoming the first woman to serve as chairman of the Federal Reserve, from 2014-18.