WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND), a Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) member, issued the following statement on the Senate confirming General (ret.) Lloyd Austin as U.S. Secretary of Defense:

“General Austin’s nomination placed us in a precarious position. Either we granted him a waiver to serve, further normalizing our disregard for protections put in place to ensure civilian control over our military; or we rejected his waiver and ran the risk of President Biden choosing a more extreme nominee who’s unaware of the threats we face and unappreciative of the important work we’ve done to rebuild our military over the last four years.

“I supported General Austin’s confirmation and wish him the best as leads the Pentagon. I look forward to working with him to make sure we continue to build off the Trump Administration’s success of rebuilding our military and hope to host him in North Dakota soon.”

Because he retired from military service within the last seven years, General Austin required a waiver - approved by both chambers of Congress - to be eligible to serve as Defense Secretary. Senator Cramer and his colleagues on SASC approved the waiver yesterday, as did the House of Representatives and the full Senate. His nomination was also approved by Senator Cramer and his SASC colleagues yesterday.

Senator Cramer questioned General Austin at his SASC hearing earlier this week, pressing him on nuclear modernization, intelligence efforts, and the Iran Nuclear Deal. Watch it here