The Senate voted 100-0 yesterday to confirm Leon Panetta as the next defense secretary.
Panetta has directed the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) since Feb. 13, 2009. He previously served as former President Bill Clinton’s chief of staff and director of the Office of Management and Budget. He was a Democratic congressman from California from 1977 to 1993, and chaired the House Budget Committee during his final four years in the House.
Senators from both sides of the aisle took to the Senate floor yesterday afternoon to laud Panetta for his budgetary experience and recent work to track down terrorist leader Osama bin Laden.
“Mr. Panetta is the right person to help our military through the fiscal challenges that confront this nation,” Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) said during two house of non-contentious debate on the nomination. “His service as President Clinton’s director of the Office of Management and Budget is invaluable because he understands the budget process and because he shaped the decisions that helped achieve the budget surpluses of the late 1990s.”
Panetta caused some heartburn in the defense industry when he said during his SASC confirmation hearing that he would consider having contractors pay for more of weapon systems’ development and also share in the cost of budget overruns.
Panetta, though, largely reinforced President Barack Obama and outgoing Defense Secretary Robert Gates’ stances on defense spending, including Gates’ concern about being cautious with implementing the $400 billion in security spending reductions that Obama wants by 2023.
The Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) President and CEO Marion Blakey said yesterday her trade group looks “forward to sitting down to discuss shared priorities” with Panetta.
“Director Panetta’s demonstrated leadership, extensive experience in government and knowledge of the budgeting process make him an excellent choice to take on the difficult national security challenges facing our nation,” Blakey said in a statement.
AIA’s priorities include “achieving acquisition efficiencies, bolstering our defense industrial base, continuing export control modernization, and making sure that the budget is adequate to ensure essential capabilities,” it said.