{"id":29516,"date":"2021-01-22T16:04:34","date_gmt":"2021-01-22T16:04:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/uncategorized\/2021\/01\/22\/austin-confirmed-as-new-defense-secretary-in-historic-vote\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T10:00:53","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T10:00:53","slug":"austin-confirmed-as-new-defense-secretary-in-historic-vote","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/management\/leadership\/2021\/01\/22\/austin-confirmed-as-new-defense-secretary-in-historic-vote\/","title":{"rendered":"Austin confirmed as new defense secretary in historic vote"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Former U.S. Central Command leader<a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2021\/01\/12\/bidens-defense-secretary-pick-prompts-new-concerns-of-civilian-control-respect-for-the-military\/\" target=_blank> Lloyd Austin<\/a> was confirmed Friday as the next d<a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/smr\/transition\/2021\/01\/19\/austin-uses-hearing-to-push-back-on-civ-mil-concerns\/\" target=_blank>efense secretary<\/a>, a historic vote that makes him the nation\u2019s first Black chief of the Pentagon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-military\/2020\/12\/21\/lloyd-austin-bidens-profoundly-private-pentagon-pick-joins-twitter\/\" target=_blank>Austin<\/a>, a four-star Army general who spent more than 40 years in the ranks, was approved by an overwhelming 93-2 vote in the Senate. A day earlier, the House and Senate also approved waiver language to allow Austin, who retired in 2016, to serve in the post despite a law mandating a seven-year gap between military service and the top civilian defense job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The vote, which came two days after President Joe Biden was sworn in as commander in chief, erased fears of a possible lengthy wait for the new administration\u2019s national security team to be put in place. Biden has said that Austin, 67, has \u201cintimate knowledge of the Department of Defense\u201d that will be crucial as his team rewrites four years of military and defense policy under former President Donald Trump, and faces ongoing threats from overseas adversaries.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/2021\/01\/18\/general-education-what-austin-can-learn-from-mattis-rocky-relations-with-congress\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635780027143072790-gettyimages-488503420jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">General education: What Austin can learn from Mattis\u2019s rocky relationship with Congress<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Austin must work with Congress to win support for President-elect Joe Biden\u2019s national security budget and priorities.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201c[Austin] and I share a commitment to empowering our diplomats and development experts to lead our foreign policy, using force only as our last resort,\u201d Biden wrote <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2020\/12\/08\/biden-heres-why-i-chose-lloyd-austin-for-defense-secretary\/\" target=_blank>in an essay for The Atlantic<\/a> in December explaining his decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe must build a foreign policy that leads with diplomacy and revitalizes our alliances, putting American leadership back at the table and rallying the world to meet global threats to our security \u2014 from pandemics to climate change, from nuclear proliferation to the refugee crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">During his confirmation hearing on Tuesday, Austin vowed to prioritize making the military \u201ca working environment free of discrimination, hate and harassment\u201d for all troops and civilians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIf confirmed, I will fight hard to stamp out sexual assault, to rid our ranks of racists and extremists, and to create a climate where everyone fit and willing has the opportunity to serve this country with dignity,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe job of the Department of Defense is to keep America safe from our enemies. But we can\u2019t do that if some of those enemies lie within our own ranks.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Austin, who served on the board of defense contractor Raytheon Technologies, agreed at his confirmation hearing this week to recuse himself from decisions involving the company for four years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He takes over a Pentagon that is likely to see tighter defense budgets than in recent years and continued questions about how to balance traditional threats like China and Russia with overseas terrorist and extremist groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cGlobally I understand that Asia must be the focus of our effort, and I see China in particular as a pacing challenge for the department,\u201d he told lawmakers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He\u2019ll also have to handle Biden\u2019s call to end the U.S. military presence in Afghanistan after 20 years, something that none of the past three presidential administrations have been able to do. At his confirmation hearing, he expressed openness to leaving a counter-terrorism force in Afghanistan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In recent days, multiple lawmakers hailed Austin not only as a capable leader for the military but also as an important figure to emphasize the need for diversity in the armed forces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/opinions\/2021\/01\/21\/lloyd-austin-defense-waiver-anthony-brown\/\" target=_blank>In a Washington Post editorial<\/a> published Thursday, Iraq War veteran Rep. Anthony Brown, D-Md., called Austin a potentially transformational leader for the military at a time of racial strife throughout the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe rise in white nationalism is disturbing by itself, and is accompanied by two concerning trends regarding people of color within the department,\u201d Brown wrote. \u201cA lack of diversity in senior military and civilian ranks, as well as in coveted careers such as special forces, pilots and submariners, has led to Defense Department leadership that doesn\u2019t reflect America.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2021\/01\/19\/defense-secretary-nominee-offering-scant-details-commits-to-rooting-out-extremism-sexual-assault-in-the-force\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP20344688256077.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Defense secretary nominee, offering scant details, commits to rooting out extremism, sexual assault in the force<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Lawmakers questioned the defense secretary nominee on issues that have been making headlines.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Just before Friday\u2019s vote, incoming Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Jack Reed, D-R.I., called Austin\u2019s confirmation \u201can extraordinary, historic moment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cA significant portion of our forces are African-American, Latino or Latina, and now they can see themselves at the very top of the Department of Defense,\u201d he told reporters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith, D-Wash., argued on Thursday that lawmakers needed to move quickly on Austin\u2019s confirmation to help counter leadership turmoil in the department under Trump. Over his four year term, the department had six different permanent and acting secretaries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe disruption at the Pentagon has been enormous,\u201d he said. \u201cThey need a fully confirmed secretary of defense immediately to begin to thoroughly clean up that mess and get the Pentagon back to being as effective as it needs to be \u2026 There is an urgency to this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Austin is expected to take his oath of office as early as this afternoon, and begin overseeing Pentagon operations right away.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The former head of U.S. Central Command is the first Black defense secretary in American history.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":53477,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":68,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[106,31,15,68,33],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3294,3334],"class_list":["post-29516","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-brief","category-home","category-management","category-leadership","category-newsletters"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"FU34XBODYBDKREOX2M572UIIUU","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2021\/01\/22\/austin-confirmed-as-new-defense-secretary-in-historic-vote\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Austin confirmed as new defense secretary in historic vote - Federal Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The former head of U.S. Central Command is the first Black defense secretary in American history.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Austin confirmed as new defense secretary in historic vote\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The former head of U.S. Central Command is the first Black defense secretary in American history.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/management\/leadership\/2021\/01\/22\/austin-confirmed-as-new-defense-secretary-in-historic-vote\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Federal Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-01-22T16:04:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-08T10:00:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Leo Shane III, Joe Gould\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Leo Shane III, Joe Gould\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\n\t    \"@context\": \"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\n\t    \"@graph\": [\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Article\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/federaltimes\\\/management\\\/leadership\\\/2021\\\/01\\\/22\\\/austin-confirmed-as-new-defense-secretary-in-historic-vote\\\/#article\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/federaltimes\\\/management\\\/leadership\\\/2021\\\/01\\\/22\\\/austin-confirmed-as-new-defense-secretary-in-historic-vote\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"author\": {\n\t                \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/federaltimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"headline\": \"Austin confirmed as new defense secretary in historic vote\",\n\t            \"datePublished\": \"2021-01-22T16:04:34+00:00\",\n\t            \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-08T10:00:53+00:00\",\n\t            \"mainEntityOfPage\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/federaltimes\\\/management\\\/leadership\\\/2021\\\/01\\\/22\\\/austin-confirmed-as-new-defense-secretary-in-historic-vote\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"wordCount\": 787,\n\t            \"commentCount\": 0,\n\t            \"publisher\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/federaltimes\\\/#organization\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/federaltimes\\\/management\\\/leadership\\\/2021\\\/01\\\/22\\\/austin-confirmed-as-new-defense-secretary-in-historic-vote\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/Lloyd-Austin-confirmation-hearing.jpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"articleSection\": [\n\t                \"Daily Brief\",\n\t                \"Home\",\n\t                \"Inside the Agencies\",\n\t                \"Leadership\",\n\t                \"Newsletters\"\n\t            ],\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"CommentAction\",\n\t                    \"name\": \"Comment\",\n\t                    \"target\": [\n\t                        \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/federaltimes\\\/management\\\/leadership\\\/2021\\\/01\\\/22\\\/austin-confirmed-as-new-defense-secretary-in-historic-vote\\\/#respond\"\n\t                    ]\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"WebPage\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/federaltimes\\\/management\\\/leadership\\\/2021\\\/01\\\/22\\\/austin-confirmed-as-new-defense-secretary-in-historic-vote\\\/\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/federaltimes\\\/management\\\/leadership\\\/2021\\\/01\\\/22\\\/austin-confirmed-as-new-defense-secretary-in-historic-vote\\\/\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Austin confirmed as new defense secretary in historic vote - Federal Times\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/federaltimes\\\/#website\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"primaryImageOfPage\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/federaltimes\\\/management\\\/leadership\\\/2021\\\/01\\\/22\\\/austin-confirmed-as-new-defense-secretary-in-historic-vote\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/federaltimes\\\/management\\\/leadership\\\/2021\\\/01\\\/22\\\/austin-confirmed-as-new-defense-secretary-in-historic-vote\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/Lloyd-Austin-confirmation-hearing.jpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"datePublished\": \"2021-01-22T16:04:34+00:00\",\n\t            \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-08T10:00:53+00:00\",\n\t            \"description\": \"The former head of U.S. Central Command is the first Black defense secretary in American history.\",\n\t            \"breadcrumb\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/federaltimes\\\/management\\\/leadership\\\/2021\\\/01\\\/22\\\/austin-confirmed-as-new-defense-secretary-in-historic-vote\\\/#breadcrumb\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ReadAction\",\n\t                    \"target\": [\n\t                        \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/federaltimes\\\/management\\\/leadership\\\/2021\\\/01\\\/22\\\/austin-confirmed-as-new-defense-secretary-in-historic-vote\\\/\"\n\t                    ]\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/federaltimes\\\/management\\\/leadership\\\/2021\\\/01\\\/22\\\/austin-confirmed-as-new-defense-secretary-in-historic-vote\\\/#primaryimage\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/Lloyd-Austin-confirmation-hearing.jpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/Lloyd-Austin-confirmation-hearing.jpg.jpg\"\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"BreadcrumbList\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/federaltimes\\\/management\\\/leadership\\\/2021\\\/01\\\/22\\\/austin-confirmed-as-new-defense-secretary-in-historic-vote\\\/#breadcrumb\",\n\t            \"itemListElement\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 1,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Home\",\n\t                    \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/federaltimes\\\/\",\n\t                    \"ad_zone\": \"home\"\n\t                },\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 2,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Inside the Agencies\",\n\t                    \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/federaltimes\\\/management\\\/\",\n\t                    \"ad_zone\": \"management\"\n\t                },\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 3,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Leadership\",\n\t                    \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/federaltimes\\\/management\\\/leadership\\\/\",\n\t                    \"ad_zone\": \"leadership\"\n\t                },\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 4,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Austin confirmed as new defense secretary in historic vote\"\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"WebSite\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/federaltimes\\\/#website\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/federaltimes\\\/\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Federal Times\",\n\t            \"description\": \"Federal Times\",\n\t            \"publisher\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/federaltimes\\\/#organization\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"SearchAction\",\n\t                    \"target\": {\n\t                        \"@type\": \"EntryPoint\",\n\t                        \"urlTemplate\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/federaltimes\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"\n\t                    },\n\t                    \"query-input\": {\n\t                        \"@type\": \"PropertyValueSpecification\",\n\t                        \"valueRequired\": true,\n\t                        \"valueName\": \"search_term_string\"\n\t                    }\n\t                }\n\t            ],\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\"\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Organization\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/federaltimes\\\/#organization\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Federal Times\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/federaltimes\\\/\",\n\t            \"logo\": {\n\t                \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t                \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/federaltimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\n\t                \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/federal-logo-white.png\",\n\t                \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/federal-logo-white.png\",\n\t                \"caption\": \"Federal Times\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/federaltimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"\n\t            }\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Person\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/federaltimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\",\n\t            \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t                \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=gcf4cb6ee0ec29e49e7a963234e4340ec\",\n\t                \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\n\t                \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\n\t                \"caption\": \"migration\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/federaltimes\\\/author\\\/migration\\\/\"\n\t        }\n\t    ]\n\t}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Austin confirmed as new defense secretary in historic vote - Federal Times","description":"The former head of U.S. Central Command is the first Black defense secretary in American history.","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Austin confirmed as new defense secretary in historic vote","og_description":"The former head of U.S. Central Command is the first Black defense secretary in American history.","og_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/management\/leadership\/2021\/01\/22\/austin-confirmed-as-new-defense-secretary-in-historic-vote\/","og_site_name":"Federal Times","article_published_time":"2021-01-22T16:04:34+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-08-08T10:00:53+00:00","author":"Leo Shane III, Joe Gould","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Leo Shane III, Joe Gould","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/management\/leadership\/2021\/01\/22\/austin-confirmed-as-new-defense-secretary-in-historic-vote\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/management\/leadership\/2021\/01\/22\/austin-confirmed-as-new-defense-secretary-in-historic-vote\/"},"author":{"name":"migration","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/#\/schema\/person\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1"},"headline":"Austin confirmed as new defense secretary in historic vote","datePublished":"2021-01-22T16:04:34+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-08T10:00:53+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/management\/leadership\/2021\/01\/22\/austin-confirmed-as-new-defense-secretary-in-historic-vote\/"},"wordCount":787,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/management\/leadership\/2021\/01\/22\/austin-confirmed-as-new-defense-secretary-in-historic-vote\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Lloyd-Austin-confirmation-hearing.jpg.jpg","articleSection":["Daily Brief","Home","Inside the Agencies","Leadership","Newsletters"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/management\/leadership\/2021\/01\/22\/austin-confirmed-as-new-defense-secretary-in-historic-vote\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/management\/leadership\/2021\/01\/22\/austin-confirmed-as-new-defense-secretary-in-historic-vote\/","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/management\/leadership\/2021\/01\/22\/austin-confirmed-as-new-defense-secretary-in-historic-vote\/","name":"Austin confirmed as new defense secretary in historic vote - Federal Times","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/management\/leadership\/2021\/01\/22\/austin-confirmed-as-new-defense-secretary-in-historic-vote\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/management\/leadership\/2021\/01\/22\/austin-confirmed-as-new-defense-secretary-in-historic-vote\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Lloyd-Austin-confirmation-hearing.jpg.jpg","datePublished":"2021-01-22T16:04:34+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-08T10:00:53+00:00","description":"The former head of U.S. Central Command is the first Black defense secretary in American history.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/management\/leadership\/2021\/01\/22\/austin-confirmed-as-new-defense-secretary-in-historic-vote\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/management\/leadership\/2021\/01\/22\/austin-confirmed-as-new-defense-secretary-in-historic-vote\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/management\/leadership\/2021\/01\/22\/austin-confirmed-as-new-defense-secretary-in-historic-vote\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Lloyd-Austin-confirmation-hearing.jpg.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Lloyd-Austin-confirmation-hearing.jpg.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/management\/leadership\/2021\/01\/22\/austin-confirmed-as-new-defense-secretary-in-historic-vote\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/","ad_zone":"home"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Inside the Agencies","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/management\/","ad_zone":"management"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Leadership","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/management\/leadership\/","ad_zone":"leadership"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Austin confirmed as new defense secretary in historic vote"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/#website","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/","name":"Federal Times","description":"Federal Times","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/#organization","name":"Federal Times","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/federal-logo-white.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/federal-logo-white.png","caption":"Federal Times"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/#\/schema\/person\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1","name":"migration","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=gcf4cb6ee0ec29e49e7a963234e4340ec","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"migration"},"url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/author\/migration\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Federal Times","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes","push-errors":false,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Lloyd-Austin-confirmation-hearing.jpg.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29516","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29516"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29516\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38368,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29516\/revisions\/38368"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29516"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29516"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=29516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}