A new crew at the Pentagon. Deputy Secretary of Defense David Norquist is, at least for a time, America’s new Acting Secretary of Defense. In this role, “Norquist will maintain continuity and readiness of the Department until a defense secretary is confirmed,” White House officials announced just after noon Wednesday. (Norquist has been Deputy SecDef since July 2019.)
The U.S. military’s new acting service secretaries include:
John Whitley at the Army;
Tom Harker for the Navy;
And John Roth is the Air Force’s acting secretary.
More than two dozen incoming defense officials were sworn in at the Pentagon Wednesday, the Defense Department announced in the evening. That includes returning Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby, as well as Susanna Blume, Melissa Dalton, Kelly Magsamen, Ely Ratner and more.
By Kate Sullivan and Jeff Zeleny, CNN President Joe Biden on Wednesday announced a slate of acting agency heads after taking office without a single one of his Cabinet nominees in place and.
Nearly two dozen career civil servants have been named by the Biden administration to temporarily lead the nation s federal agencies in the next phase of the transition of government.
Biden names acting agency heads as his Cabinet nominees remain unconfirmed
President Joe Biden on Wednesday announced a slate of acting agency heads after taking office without a single one of his Cabinet nominees in place and confirmed by the US Senate.
“These individuals, nearly all of whom are career civil servants, will temporarily lead federal agencies while Cabinet nominees continue moving through the confirmation process,” White House officials said in a statement.
The Biden team had previously declined to publicly announce the officials who would take over departments in a temporary capacity because of concerns the Trump administration could attempt to thwart or complicate their work.