Senate confirms Shyu for R&E, Kendall still on hold

By John Liang / July 22, 2021 at 5:50 PM

The full Senate today confirmed the nomination of Heidi Shyu to be the Pentagon's research and engineering chief, along with the nominees to be Defense Department general counsel and Air Force under secretary, among others.

Noticeably absent from the list was Frank Kendall, whom President Biden has nominated to be Air Force secretary.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), a longtime critic of the close relationships between government officials and defense contractors, earlier this month lifted holds she previously placed on the nominations of Kendall and Shyu after successfully getting the nominees to extend their government ethics pledges.

In addition to Shyu, senators today approved by unanimous consent the nominations of Caroline Krass for DOD general counsel, Gina Ortiz Jones for Air Force under secretary, Ely Ratner for assistant secretary of defense for Indo-Pacific security, Shawn Skelly for assistant secretary of defense for readiness and Meredith Berger for assistant secretary of the Navy for energy, installations, and environment.

Jill Hruby was also confirmed to be head of the National Nuclear Security Administration.

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