The U.S. Senate voted 77-22 Monday evening to confirm former Rep. Heather Wilson (R-N.M.) as Air Force secretary, making her the first Air Force Academy graduate to become the service’s top civilian.
Air Force Undersecretary Lisa Disbrow has been serving in the acting secretary position since January.
Early last month, the Senate Armed Services Committee approved Wilson’s nomination by a 22-5 vote. During that confirmation hearing, lawmakers raised ethics concerns about Wilson’s past consulting work – particularly the contracts she received while consulting for Department of Energy national laboratories after leaving Congress in 2009.
The DOE’s inspector general found in 2013 that Wilson had earned $450,000 from the site contractors of the Sandia, Los Alamos, and Oak Ridge national laboratories, as well as the Nevada National Security Site, but found little documentation regarding the services she provided. The labs repaid that money to the DOE.
Wilson has served since 2013 as president of the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology.