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McConnell Slams Congress Approval of Waiver for Nominee Lloyd Austin
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January 22, 2021
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2:34Now PlayingCongress approved the waiver needed for Lloyd Austin to serve as President Joe Biden’s defense secretary, a key step toward making the retired Army general the first Black leader of the Pentagon.
The House voted 326-78 on Thursday to pass the waiver exempting Austin, who left the military in 2016, from a law that bars officers from the Defense Department’s top civilian post for seven years after retiring. The Senate swiftly followed with a vote of 69-27.
The Senate has yet to act on confirming Austin’s nomination, although Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said a vote would occur on Friday morning. The Senate Armed Services Committee approved Austin’s confirmation earlier Thursday.
In the House, Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that “expeditious confirmation of this extremely qualified leader” is needed in light of circumstances from the coronavirus and the “insurrection assault on the Capitol” to “the undermining of the Pentagon by the previous president.”
The Senate confirmed the first of Biden’s nominees, Avril Haines as director of national intelligence, on Wednesday. The Senate traditionally has sought to act on national security nominees quickly after a new president takes office to send a message of stability to allies and adversaries.
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