Posted on 02/11/2009 7:07:09 PM PST by jessduntno
Senate clears ex-lobbyist as Pentagon No. 2 Wed Feb 11, 2009 9:06pm EST Email | Print | Share| Reprints | Single Page[-] Text [+] By Jim Wolf
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate approved William Lynn, a former Raytheon Co lobbyist, to be deputy secretary of defense after he received a special White House waiver from strict new rules meant to close a "revolving door" between government and big business.
Lynn, the Pentagon's chief financial officer from November 1997 to January 2001 under former President Bill Clinton, was confirmed by a vote of 93 to 4 on Wednesday.
Raytheon is the world's biggest missile-maker and now the Pentagon's No. 6 supplier by sales. Lynn was a senior vice president registered as the company's top lobbyist to the Defense Department from July 2002 until last year.
President Barack Obama's new ethics rules require appointees to recuse themselves from work related to their former employer or clients, as well as from matters or issues for which they lobbied in the previous two years.
White House general counsel Gregory Craig and Peter Orszag, director of the Office of Management and Budget, had said Lynn was given a waiver because of "exigent circumstances relating to national security" and in "the public interest."
Sen. Charles Grassley, an Iowa Republican noted for holding federal officials to account, deplored Lynn's nomination in a floor speech before the vote.
"I think the Office of Government Ethics will have to set up a full-time department just to handle Mr. Lynn's conflicts-of-interest Raytheon waivers," said Grassley, who voted against confirmation.
As deputy secretary of defense, Lynn would work as the Pentagon's top operations manager, with the final approval authority on most if not all contract, program and budget decisions.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.