The Senate Armed Services Committee on Feb. 5 opted to OK the nominations of William Lynn for the No. 2 defense post, Michele Flournoy for defense policy, Robert Hale for comptroller, and Jeh Charles Johnson for general counsel, according to various news reports. There are lingering questions over Lynn’s nomination—primarily because of his ties to defense contractor Raytheon—that could prompt one or more Senators to block his confirmation on the Senate floor. However, Associated Press reports that Lynn wrote to Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) that he would opt out of decisions on the “handful” of programs he worked on for Raytheon.
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.