Wilson confirmed as Air Force secretary
Former NM member of Congress easily approved
WASHINGTON — The Senate confirmed former Rep. Heather Wilson of New Mexico as secretary of the Air Force on Monday, making her the first of President Donald Trump’s top military branch appointees to start work on the job.
The Republican also became the first Air Force Academy graduate confirmed to lead the Air Force after the Senate voted 76-22 to approve her nomination late Monday. Sens. Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich — both New Mexico Democrats — voted in favor of Wilson’s nomination.
The former lawmaker, who represented Albuquerque in Congress from 1998 until 2009, has said she will resign her current position as president of the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology in Rapid City, S.D., to accept the Pentagon job. Wilson, a former Air Force captain, served in Europe in the 1980s.
Reached by phone after the vote, Wilson told the Journal she was sad to leave her current position but eager to get to work on what she contends is a beleaguered and outdated U.S. Air Force. As secretary, Wilson will oversee work at Canon, Holloman and Kirtland Air Force bases in New Mexico, among others nationwide.
“I’m honored to serve,” Wilson said. “It’s a bit bittersweet, because I love the university where I am the president. But
I’ve been called back to service in a way I didn’t expect, and I will do my best to do my duty.”
In a brief speech before the vote, Sen. John McCain, the Republican chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said Wilson “has proven herself as a leader.”
“She understands the Air Force mission and the capabilities it brings to the defense of our nation,” McCain said on the Senate floor. “We owe our airmen the resources, equipment and training they need to succeed. We also owe them proven leadership. That’s why the Senate should confirm Dr. Wilson.”
Heinrich, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said Wilson’s tenure as a representative from New Mexico gives her unique insight into the role and needs of the state’s three Air Force bases.
“The Air Force is countering a number of threats worldwide and faces many challenges at home as well,” Heinrich said. “New Mexico has demonstrated tremendous leadership in addressing these challenges, and I believe that having a New Mexican perspective will provide significant value to the Air Force.
“I congratulate Heather Wilson on her confirmation and am committed to working with her to address concerns that include an aging inventory of aircraft, a shortage of fighter pilots, an insatiable demand overseas for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, and an increasingly competitive environment in space and cyberspace.”
Although she won approval easily, Wilson was not without her detractors. During her Senate confirmation hearing in March, some Democratic senators — including Armed Services Committee member Jack Reed of Rhode Island — questioned her vigorously about contracting work she did for Sandia National Laboratories after leaving Congress in 2009.
In 2013, a Department of Energy inspector general’s report found that Sandia, then run by defense giant Lockheed Martin, inappropriately paid Wilson about $226,000 in consulting fees beginning in January 2009, to lobby for Sandia to take on new assignments for the federal government. Sandia and Wilson have denied any prohibited lobbying occurred.
However, Sandia reimbursed the government for fees paid to the consulting company run by Wilson.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat who voted against Wilson on Monday, said her work for Sandia and other national laboratories was “a clear violation of federal law.”
“During a Department of Energy inspector general investigation, Dr. Wilson was unable to document any work she actually did on behalf of the labs, and her employers were forced to repay the federal government for the cost of her services,” Feinstein said after the vote.
Asked by the Journal whether she was troubled by the questions about her Sandia contracting during her confirmation hearing in March or by the 22 senators who voted against her on Monday, Wilson focused on the final result.
“I appreciate the overwhelming support of the United States Senate,” she replied.
Two of Trump’s nominees to lead the Army and one for the Navy have withdrawn from consideration.