Lloyd Austin's appointment as head of the Pentagon confirmed

AFP

WASHINGTON | Former General Lloyd Austin, whose appointment as U.S. Defense Secretary was confirmed Friday, became the first African-American to lead the Pentagon. 

New U.S. President Joe Biden thanked the Senate for this swift confirmation. "There is no doubt that he is the right person to lead the Defense Department at this time," he tweeted.

Mr. Austin, 67, is the second member of Joe Biden's government to receive the green light from elected officials, after Intelligence Director Avril Haines.

"It's an honor and a privilege to become our country's 28th defense minister, and I'm especially proud to be the first African-American to serve in that position," the new minister tweeted. "Now let's get to work.

The former general immediately traveled to the Pentagon for meetings with the Chief of Staff, General Mark Milley, and various civilian and military officials at the Pentagon, the department said.

His first phone call will be to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in the afternoon.

The appointment of the former Army General, who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan before becoming the first colored man to head the U.S. Army Central Command (Centcom), was approved in the Senate by 93 votes to 2.

The day before, both Houses of Congress had granted a waiver to the retired general since 2016, under a regulation stipulating that a former military member must have been retired for more than 7 years to become Secretary of Defense.

Since the rule was passed in 1947 to ensure close civilian control over the military, only two waivers have been approved: one in 1950 for George Marshall, who had just implemented his plan to rebuild Europe, and the other for Jim Mattis in 2016.

Pandemic in the crosshairs

Austin pledged to fight extremism within the U.S. military after plainclothes military personnel were involved in the assault on Capitol Hill by supporters of former President Donald Trump.

"I will do everything I can to rid our ranks of racists and extremists," he told the Senate Armed Services Committee Tuesday, after 12 U.S. National Guard soldiers were removed from security at Joe Biden's inauguration as part of a process to investigate possible ties to extremist groups.

But he also pledged to make the pandemic his top priority, and his first meeting with military officials was to discuss the response to VIDOC-19, the Pentagon said.

The pandemic "has killed more than 400,000 Americans. These are simply disproportionate losses," he noted, saying the Pentagon could do more to fight the disease.

Mr. Austin told elected officials that he intends to reconsider Donald Trump's military withdrawals from Germany and Somalia, but supported the withdrawal from Afghanistan. "I would like to see this conflict end with a negotiated settlement," he said, saying it would be better to "focus on counterterrorism operations in the future.

A graduate of the prestigious West Point military academy, General Austin had converted to the defense industry, like many of his predecessors. He served on the board of Raytheon Technologies and promised to resign from any decision involving his former employer.