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Senate Confirms Heather Wilson as Air Force Secretary

Heather Wilson is now Donald Trump’s problem. The Senate confirmed the former New Mexico Congresswoman and now outgoing School of Mines chief to be Secretary of the Air Force yesterday:

Heather Wilson, Twitter photo, posted 2017.05.08
Heather Wilson, Twitter photo, posted 2017.05.08

The vote was 76-22 in favor of Wilson becoming the top civilian overseeing the Air Force. The 22 “no” votes all came from Democrats.

At her confirmation hearing in March, Wilson praised the stealth capability of Lockheed Martin Corp’s (LMT.N) F-35 fighter jet, in remarks suggesting the Pentagon’s most expensive weapons system would have an important advocate [Patricia Zengerle, “Senate Confirms Heather Wilson as Trump’s Air Force Secretary,” Reuters, 2017.05.08].

Wilson may find her knowledge of and support for the F-35 at odds with her new boss’s assessment, which is based mostly on his desire to inflate his deal-making abilities with false claims.

But Trump will likely be able to find common ground with Wilson on ethics. Having skirted lobbying regulations to make a good chunk of money for doing not much, she should fit well in Trump’s newly restocked swamp.

The Board of Regents has appointed its presidential search committee to find the next Mines chief.

2 Comments

  1. mike from iowa 2017-05-09 11:18

    And she is qualified because she is a “space cadet?”
    She is qualified because she plans to get rid of air?

    From 2015 assessment- “The F-35 will find itself outmaneuvered, outgunned, out of range, and visible to enemy sensors,” the NSN report reads. “Going forward, full investment in the F-35 would be to place a bad trillion-dollar bet on the future of airpower based on flawed assumptions and an underperforming aircraft. To avoid such a catastrophic outcome, Congress and DOD should begin the process of considering alternatives to a large-scale commitment to the F-35.”

  2. jerry 2017-05-09 13:09

    It looks like Heather will use these F-35’s in Afghanistan with our new plan to put several thousand more boots on the ground there. Sally Yates is making them all wag the dog.

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