The Senate Armed Services Committee on Wednesday voted 22-5 in favor of Heather Wilson’s nomination as secretary of the Air Force, sending the matter to the full Senate for consideration.
During her confirmation hearing in the same committee last week, some lawmakers raised ethics concerns surrounding Wilson’s past consulting work. She was asked about the contracts she received to consult for several Department of Energy national laboratories after leaving Congress in 2009.
The Energy Department’s inspector general found in 2013 that she had earned $450,000 from the contractors of the Sandia, Los Alamos, and Oak Ridge national laboratories, as well as the Nevada National Security Site, but found minimal documentation of services she provided. The labs’ contractors ultimately repaid that money to the Energy Department.
Several ethics groups, ahead of the hearing, urged committee members to vote against Wilson’s nomination. During the hearing Wilson said that she complied with the consulting contracts and noted she had not been found guilty of any wrongdoing.
Wilson has served as president of the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology since 2013. If confirmed as Air Force secretary, she will be the first Air Force Academy graduate to become the service’s top civilian.
