Gary A. Ashworth, a career Department of Defense civil servant and former Air Force officer, has been tapped by President Donald Trump to be Acting Secretary of the Air Force, the White House announced Jan. 20.
If past cases are any guide, Trump’s permanent pick for Secretary of the Air Force, Troy Meink, may be waiting weeks before he can be confirmed by the Senate. While Trump has named his picks for a myriad of high-level posts, only one, Secretary of State and former Senator Marco Rubio, has been confirmed so far as Trump’s second term gets underway.
Meink must have a nomination hearing in front of the Senate Armed Services Committee, which will vote on whether to forward his nomination to the full Senate. Meink, the principal deputy director of the National Reconnaissance Office, is unlikely to face resistance based on his qualifications for the role, as he has served in a variety of national security, space, and intelligence posts throughout his career—both at the NRO and with the Department of the Air Force.
Trump’s pick for Undersecretary of the Air Force, Matthew Lohmeier, is a former Space Force lieutenant colonel who was relieved of command in 2021 over a book and subsequent comments that criticized the Space Force and the military for what Lohmeier claimed were widespread Marxist views and an overemphasis on promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion. It is possible some senators may seek to hold up Meink’s nomination over Lohmeier’s views.
Regardless, given the large number of pending cabinet-level and sub-cabinet-level selections, such as Meink and Lohmeier, it will take weeks, if not months, for Meink to be confirmed. Ashworth is set to be the acting civilian head of the Air Force and Space Force until then.
Frank Kendall, the previous Air Force Secretary, had to wait nearly three months from his nomination to confirmation. During Trump’s first term, Barbara Barrett waited four and a half months, and Heather Wilson waited three and a half months.
Ashworth previously served in the Office of Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment as the acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for Acquisition. He first joined the DOD as a civilian in 1992 and also served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategic, Space, and Intelligence Portfolio Management—a post which oversaw “nuclear weapons systems; nuclear command, control, and communications (NC3); space; missile defense; and command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (C4ISR) domains,” according to Ashworth’s official biography. Ashworth served more than 20 years in uniform in the Air Force, starting his career as a missileer on the Minuteman ICBM.
It is unclear how Ashworth was chosen as Acting Air Force Secretary, as he comes to the role from the Office of the Secretary of Defense, not the Department of the Air Force.
Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, is awaiting what is likely to be a close vote for his nomination, following a narrow party-line vote to advance his nomination by the Senate Armed Services Committee. Robert Salesses, the Deputy Director of Washington Headquarters Services, is the Acting Secretary of Defense until there is a Senate-confirmed choice to lead the Pentagon.
On Jan. 21, the Defense Department announced that dozens of officials who do not require Senate confirmation were sworn in on inauguration day.
On Jan. 20, Trump signed an executive order assigning U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM), led by Air Force Gen. Gregory M. Guillot, responsibility to “seal the borders” by “repelling forms of invasion.” Trump has promised to enhance border security, though it is unclear what role the military will play in those plans in practice.
“The Department of Defense is fully committed to carrying out the orders from our Commander-In-Chief, and is doing so immediately under his leadership,” a defense official said.