About. Lloyd J. Austin III is the 28th secretary of defense, sworn in on Jan. 22, 2021. A graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., Austin served 41 years in uniform, retiring as ...
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· Jan 26, 2021. For Antony Blinken, America’s new top diplomat, returning to the U.S. Department of State brings the opportunity to continue both professional and family traditions. Blinken, whom the U.S. Senate confirmed as secretary of state January 26, will lead the State Department, where he served during the Clinton and Obama administrations.
The United States secretary of state is an officer of the United States who implements foreign policy for the U.S. government as the head of the U.S. Department of State.The office holder is one of the highest ranking members of the president's Cabinet, and ranks the first in the U.S. presidential line of succession among Cabinet secretaries.. Created in 1789 with Thomas …
Subject only to the orders of the president, the secretary of defense is in the chain of command and exercises command and control, for both operational and administrative purposes, over all service branches administered by the Department of Defense – the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, and Space Force – as well as the Coast Guard when its command and control is transferred to the Department of Defense. The office holder is seen as the de facto deputy commander in chief of the US military Only the secretary of defense (or the president or Congress) can authorize the transfer of operational control of forces between the three military departments ( Department of the Army, the Navy, and the Air Force) and the eleven Unified Combatant Commands. Because the secretary of defense is vested with legal powers that exceed those of any commissioned officer, and is second only to the president in the military hierarchy, its incumbent has sometimes unofficially been referred to as "deputy commander-in-chief ". The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is the principal military adviser to the secretary of defense and the president; while the chairman may assist the secretary and president in their command functions, the chairman is not in the chain of command.
The Department of Defense is composed of the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD), the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) and the Joint Staff (JS), Office of the Inspector General (DODIG), the Combatant Commands, the Military Departments ( Department of the Army (DA), Department of the Navy (DON) & Department of the Air Force (DAF)), the Defense Agencies and DoD Field Activities, the National Guard Bureau (NGB), and such other offices, agencies, activities, organizations, and commands established or designated by law, or by the president or by the secretary of defense.
Secretary of Defense is a Level I position in the Executive Schedule, thus earning a salary of US$ 221,400, as of January 2021.
The Act also separated the Army Air Forces from the Army to become its own branch of service, the United States Air Force .
As the secretary of defense is a civilian position intended to be independent of the active-duty leadership, a secretary is required to have been retired from service for at least seven (originally ten) years unless a waiver is approved by Congress. Since the creation of the position in 1947, such a waiver has been approved only three times, for Army general George Marshall in 1950, Marine Corps General Jim Mattis in 2017, and retired Army general Lloyd J. Austin III in 2021.
The last major revision of the statutory framework concerning the position was done in the Goldwater–Nichols Department of Defense Reorganization Act of 1986. In particular, it elevated the status of joint service for commissioned officers, making it in practice a requirement before appointments to general officer and flag officer grades could be made.
Secretary succession. On December 10, 2020, President Donald Trump modified the order of succession for the office of Secretary of Defense in an Executive Order (unnumbered as of December 15, 2020). The order of succession is: #. Office. 1.
His career in public service follows in the steps of his father and uncle, who served as U.S. ambassadors. Blinken told a January 19 Senate hearing on his nomination to be the 71st U.S. secretary of state that he will work with international partners to tackle global challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
After Obama’s election in 2008, Blinken served as then Vice President Biden’s national security adviser and later as principal deputy national security adviser. He was appointed deputy secretary of state in 2015.
By. Leigh Hartman. -. Jan 26, 2021. For Antony Blinken, America’s new top diplomat, returning to the U.S. Department of State brings the opportunity to continue both professional and family traditions. Blinken, whom the U.S. Senate confirmed as secretary of state January 26, will lead the State Department, where he served during ...
The current secretary of state is Antony Blinken, who was confirmed on January 26, 2021 by the Senate by a vote of 78–22.
The secretary of state, along with the secretary of the treasury, secretary of defense, and attorney general, are generally regarded as the four most crucial Cabinet members because of the importance of their respective departments.
In the process of extraditing fugitives to or from the country, the secretary serves as the channel of communication between foreign governments, the federal government, and the states.
Those that remain include storage and use of the Great Seal, performance of protocol functions for the White House, and the drafting of certain proclamations.
The secretary of state can conduct negotiations, interpret, and terminate treaties relating to foreign policy. The secretary also can participate in international conferences, organizations, and agencies as a representative of the United States. The secretary communicates issues relating to the U.S. foreign policy to Congress and citizens.
As the highest-ranking member of the cabinet, the secretary of state is the third-highest official of the executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president and vice president, and is fourth in line to succeed the presidency, after the vice president, the speaker of the House of Representatives, and the president pro tempore of the Senate .
The secretary of state is the president’s chief foreign affairs adviser and the first cabinet member after the vice president in the line of succession . Biden’s nominee, Antony Blinken, served as deputy secretary of state and deputy national security adviser in the Obama administration, and worked closely with Biden in the Senate.
Established partnership: Joe Biden with his nominee for US secretary of defense, retired general Lloyd Austin. EPA-EFE/Stan Gilliland
Janet Yellen: expected to serve as secretary of the treasury under Joe Biden. EPA-EFE/Jim lo Scalzo
Biden ’s pick of retired four-star general Lloyd Austin (pictured at the top) to head the Pentagon was somewhat unexpected. But Austin comes with strong credentials and has had a close working relationship with Biden – especially during the Obama administration. He served as the US commander in Iraq, overseeing both the US troop surge and withdrawal, and later headed Central Command, as well as leading the US response to ISIS.
The secretary of defense oversees the Defense Department and acts as the principal defense policymaker and adviser.
See how other leaders accomplish the DOD mission by visiting the websites below.