Ashton Carter Confirmed as New Secretary of Defense

The US Senate has approved a replacement for outgoing Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel.

The New York Times reports that Ashton Carter was confirmed for the position in a landslide vote of 93 for and only 5 against. Carter is taking the helm of the US military at a time of transition. The United States has seriously wound down its presence in Afghanistan, although there are still troops operating in the country, while increasing its involvement in Iraq and Syria.

Carter will be the new head of the military as it continues airstrikes against the Islamic States, a campaign that could very well continue after Carter is no longer the Secretary of Defense.

A major factor in Carter's confirmation was his previous experience in the Department of Defense as a bureaucrat who oversaw a budget valued at $600 billion annually. The Defense Department is still adjusting to the sequestration that limited some of its funding, and it is believed that Carter has the experience to make the best of the situation.

Reuters notes that Carter was in charge of revamping the bloated and delayed F-35 program. Carter told the Senate that his primary goals as Secretary of Defense would be improving the speed with which new technology is introduced to the armed forces, while also driving down the cost of the development of that new technology.

Carter also said that he was undecided about providing weaponry to the Ukrainian military, which is currently under debate in the Obama Administration. He said he was open to the idea, but that the best way to resolve the situation in eastern Ukraine was through diplomacy and economic pressure.

Carter's professional training was actually in physics, but he began to work for the Department of Defense during the Clinton Administration.