The Senate Armed Services Committee on Wednesday voted 22-5 in favor of Heather Wilson’s nomination as secretary of the Air Force, moving the matter on to the full Senate for final consideration.
During her confirmation hearing before the committee last week, some lawmakers raised ethics concerns surrounding Wilson’s past consulting work. She was asked in particular about the contracts she received to consult for Department of Energy national laboratories after leaving Congress in 2009.
The Energy Department’s inspector general found in 2013 that Wilson 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 regarding services she provided. The labs’ contractors ultimately repaid that money to the Energy Department.
Sandia Corp., the Lockheed Martin subsidiary that for a few more weeks manages the Sandia National Laboratories, paid the government $4.8 million in 2015 to settle claims that it used federal funds to lobby federal agencies and Congress for a noncompetitive extension of its contract. The DOE inspector general identified Wilson as one of three consultants who provided lobbying guidance to Sandia.
The National Nuclear Security Administration in December awarded the management contract for Sandia to a Honeywell International subsidiary, which will take over site operations on May 1.
Several ethics groups, ahead of last week’s 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.
Still, Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), one of the lawmakers who opposed her nomination, said in a statement following the vote that Wilson’s answers were “incomplete and unsatisfactory.”
“I respect her service, but I voted no because I have serious concerns about her involvement in directly contacting a sitting U.S. attorney about pending cases and her post-government actions as a contracting consultant for Heather Wilson and Company, LLC,” Reed said.
A committee source said Senate Democrats Kirsten Gillibrand (N.Y.), Richard Blumenthal (Conn.), Mazie Hirono (Hawaii), and Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) also voted against Wilson’s nomination. The full Senate will likely vote on her nomination following its two-week recess.
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.
