Ashton Carter was sworn in on Monday as the Pentagon’s acquisition czar, replacing John Young, who had stayed on for the interim after the Bush Administration left office. President Obama nominated Carter, a Harvard physicist, for the post in March after identifying Carter for the position back in February. Carter rejoins the Pentagon after having served as assistant secretary of defense for international security policy under the first Clinton Administration from 1993 to 1996. Last week, Alabama’s two Senators, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R) and Sen. Richard Shelby (R), lifted their opposition to Carter’s confirmation vote after Carter reaffirmed to them his commitment to an open and fair process in the KC-X tanker recapitalization.
A provision in the fiscal 2025 defense policy bill will require the Defense Department to include the military occupational specialty of service members who die by suicide in its annual report on suicide deaths, though it remains to be seen how much data the department will actually disclose.