# List of Department of Defense appointments by Joe Biden

* This article is part of a series aboutJoe Biden
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President Biden will make many appointments and nominations to serve in various roles in the Department of Defense. These include the Army, Navy, Marines, and Air Force. Almost all of these nominations will need to be confirmed by the United States Senate before they can begin service. As was the case with Lloyd Austin, a waiver is required if the nominated person has not been out of service for at least seven years.
Below is a list of nominations and appointments to the Department of Defense by Joe Biden, the 46th president of the United States. As of August 1, 2024, according to tracking by The Washington Post and Partnership for Public Service, 50 nominees have been confirmed, 3 nominees are being considered by the Senate, 10 positions do not have nominees, and 4 appointments have been made to positions that don't require Senate confirmation.

## Color key

Denotes appointees awaiting Senate confirmation.
Denotes appointees serving in an acting capacity.
Denotes appointees who have left office or offices which have been disbanded.

## Department of Defense
### Office of the Secretary of Defense

| Office | Nominee | Assumed office | Left office |
| — Secretary of Defense | Lloyd Austin | January 22, 2021 (Confirmed January 22, 2021, 93–2) | — |
| — Deputy Secretary of Defense | Kathleen Hicks | February 9, 2021 (Confirmed February 8, 2021 by voice vote) | — |
| — Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs | Chris Meagher | September 9, 2022 | — |
| — Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs | John Kirby | January 20, 2021 | May 27, 2022 Appointed to the National Security Council as coordinator for strategic communications |
| — Department of Defense Press Secretary | Patrick S. Ryder | August 4, 2022 | — |
| — Chief of Staff to the Secretary of Defense | Derek Chollet | July 19, 2024 | — |
| — Chief of Staff to the Secretary of Defense | Kelly Magsamen | January 20, 2021 | June 28, 2024 |
| — Director of Administration and Management | Michael B. Donley | May 5, 2021 | September 18, 2023 |
| — General Counsel of Defense | Caroline D. Krass | August 2, 2021 (Confirmed July 22, 2021 by voice vote) | — |
| — Chief Information Officer of Defense |
| — Chief Information Officer of Defense | Leslie Beavers | July 1, 2024 | — |
| — Chief Information Officer of Defense | John Sherman | December 17, 2021 (Confirmed December 14, 2021 by voice vote) | June 28, 2024 |
| — Assistant Secretary of Defense (Legislative Affairs) | Rheanne Wirkkala | December 2, 2022 (Confirmed November 17, 2022 by voice vote) | — |
| — Inspector General of Defense | Robert Storch | December 6, 2022 (Confirmed November 30, 2022, 92–3) | — |

### Joint Chiefs of Staff

| Office | Nominee | Assumed office | Left office |
| — Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff | Charles Q. Brown Jr. | October 1, 2023 (Confirmed September 20, 2023, 83–11) | — |
| — Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff | Christopher W. Grady | December 20, 2021 (Confirmed December 16, 2021 by voice vote) | — |
| — Chief of Staff of the Army | Randy A. George | September 21, 2023 (Confirmed September 21, 2023, 96–1) | — |
| — Commandant of the Marine Corps | Eric M. Smith | September 22, 2023 (Confirmed September 21, 2023, 96–0) | — |
| — Chief of Naval Operations | Lisa M. Franchetti | November 2, 2023 (Confirmed November 2, 2023, 95–1) | — |
| — Chief of Staff of the Air Force | David W. Allvin | November 2, 2023 (Confirmed November 2, 2023, 95–1) | — |
| — Chief of Space Operations | B. Chance Saltzman | November 2, 2022 (Confirmed September 29, 2022 by voice vote) | — |
| — Chief of the National Guard Bureau | Steven Nordhaus | October 2, 2024 (Confirmed September 24, 2024 by voice vote) | — |

### Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy

| Office | Nominee | Assumed office | Left office |
| — Under Secretary of Defense (Policy) |
| — Under Secretary of Defense (Policy) | Amanda J. Dory | April 27, 2024 | — |
| — Under Secretary of Defense (Policy) | Sasha Baker | July 18, 2023 | April 26, 2024 |
| — Under Secretary of Defense (Policy) | Colin Kahl | April 28, 2021 (Confirmed April 27, 2021, 49–45) | July 17, 2023 |
| — Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Policy) |
| — Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Policy) | Cara L. Abercrombie | May 29, 2024 | — |
| — Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Policy) | Melissa Dalton | April 26, 2024 | May 29, 2024 |
| — Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Policy) | Sasha Baker | February 14, 2022 (Confirmed February 9, 2022, 75–21) | April 26, 2024 |
| — Assistant Secretary of Defense (Cyber Policy) | Michael Sulmeyer | August 6, 2024 (Confirmed August 1, 2024 by voice vote) | — |
| — Assistant Secretary of Defense (Homeland Defense and Hemispheric Affairs) |
| — Assistant Secretary of Defense (Homeland Defense and Hemispheric Affairs) | Rebecca Zimmerman | May 29, 2024 | — |
| — Assistant Secretary of Defense (Homeland Defense and Hemispheric Affairs) | Melissa Dalton | March 4, 2022 (Confirmed March 1, 2022 by voice vote) | May 29, 2024 |
| — Assistant Secretary of Defense (Indo-Pacific Security Affairs) | Ely Ratner | July 25, 2021 (Confirmed July 22, 2021 by voice vote) | January 17, 2025 |
| — Assistant Secretary of Defense (International Security Affairs) | Celeste Wallander | February 22, 2022 (Confirmed February 16, 2022, 83–13) | — |
| — Assistant Secretary of Defense (Space Policy) |
| — Assistant Secretary of Defense (Space Policy) | John D. Hill | August 12, 2024 | — |
| — Assistant Secretary of Defense (Space Policy) | Vipin Narang | May 20, 2024 | August 12, 2024 |
| — Assistant Secretary of Defense (Space Policy) | John F. Plumb | March 7, 2022 (Confirmed March 1, 2022 by voice vote) | May 20, 2024 |
| — Assistant Secretary of Defense (Special Operations and Low-Intensity Conflict) | Christopher Maier | August 12, 2021 (Confirmed August 7, 2021 by voice vote) | — |
| — Assistant Secretary of Defense (Strategy, Plans, and Capabilities) |
| — Assistant Secretary of Defense (Strategy, Plans, and Capabilities) | Madeline Mortelmans | December 20, 2023 | — |
| — Assistant Secretary of Defense (Strategy, Plans, and Capabilities) | Mara Karlin | August 23, 2021 (Confirmed August 9, 2021 by voice vote) | December 20, 2023 |

### Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller)

| Office | Nominee | Assumed office | Left office |
| — Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) Chief Financial Officer of Defense | Michael J. McCord | June 2, 2021 (Confirmed May 28, 2021 by voice vote) | — |
| — Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) | Kathleen Miller | August 20, 2021 (Confirmed August 6, 2021 by voice vote) | — |

### Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment

| Office | Nominee | Assumed office | Left office |
| — Under Secretary of Defense (Acquisition and Sustainment) | William LaPlante | April 15, 2022 (Confirmed April 7, 2022 by voice vote) | — |
| — Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Acquisition and Sustainment) |
| — Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Acquisition and Sustainment) | Deborah Rosenblum | April 8, 2024 | — |
| — Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Acquisition and Sustainment) | Radha Iyengar Plumb | April 21, 2023 (Confirmed April 18, 2023, 68–30) | April 8, 2024 |
| — Assistant Secretary of Defense (Acquisition) | Cara L. Abercrombie | March 5, 2024 (Confirmed February 27, 2024 by voice vote) | — |
| — Assistant Secretary of Defense (Energy, Installations and Environment) | Brendan Owens | January 26, 2023 (Confirmed January 23, 2023, 60–35) | — |
| — Assistant Secretary of Defense (Industrial Base Policy) | Laura D. Taylor-Kale | April 3, 2023 (Confirmed March 30, 2023, 63–27) | — |
| — Assistant Secretary of Defense (Nuclear, Chemical, and Biological Defense Programs) |
| — Assistant Secretary of Defense (Nuclear, Chemical, and Biological Defense Programs) | Brandi Vann | April 8, 2024 | — |
| — Assistant Secretary of Defense (Nuclear, Chemical, and Biological Defense Programs) | Deborah Rosenblum | August 4, 2021 (Confirmed July 29, 2021 by voice vote) | April 8, 2024 |
| — Assistant Secretary of Defense (Sustainment) |
| — Assistant Secretary of Defense (Sustainment) | Steven J. Morani | October 1, 2024 | — |
| — Assistant Secretary of Defense (Sustainment) | Christopher Lowman | June 10, 2022 (Confirmed May 18, 2022, 94–1) | September 30, 2024 |

### Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security

| Office | Nominee | Assumed office | Left office |
| — Under Secretary of Defense (Intelligence and Security) |
| — Under Secretary of Defense (Intelligence and Security) | Milancy Harris | March 1, 2024 | — |
| — Under Secretary of Defense (Intelligence and Security) | Ronald Moultrie | June 1, 2021 (Confirmed May 28, 2021 by voice vote) | February 29, 2024 |
| — Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Intelligence and Security) | Milancy Harris | January 3, 2023 (Confirmed December 22, 2022 by voice vote) | March 1, 2024 |

### Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness

| Office | Nominee | Assumed office | Left office |
| — Under Secretary of Defense (Personnel and Readiness) |
| — Under Secretary of Defense (Personnel and Readiness) | Ashish Vazirani | September 8, 2023 | — |
| — Under Secretary of Defense (Personnel and Readiness) | Gil Cisneros | August 24, 2021 (Confirmed August 11, 2021 by voice vote) | September 8, 2023 |
| — Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Personnel and Readiness) | Ashish Vazirani | July 18, 2022 (Confirmed July 12, 2022, 73–21) | — |
| — Assistant Secretary of Defense (Health Affairs) | Lester Martínez López | March 1, 2023 (Confirmed February 16, 2023, 61–34) | October 31, 2024 |
| — Assistant Secretary of Defense (Manpower and Reserve Affairs) | Ronald Keohane | March 13, 2024 (Confirmed March 6, 2024, 69–30) | — |
| — Assistant Secretary of Defense (Readiness) | Shawn Skelly | July 22, 2021 (Confirmed July 22, 2021 by voice vote) | – |

### Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering

| Office | Nominee | Assumed office | Left office |
| — Under Secretary of Defense (Research and Engineering) | Heidi Shyu | July 25, 2021 (Confirmed July 22, 2021 by voice vote) | — |
| — Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Research and Engineering) | David A. Honey | March 1, 2022 (Confirmed February 16, 2022, 94–1) | — |
| — Assistant Secretary of Defense (Science and Technology) | Aprille Ericsson | March 29, 2024 (Confirmed February 28, 2024 by voice vote) | — |

### Offices & Agencies

| Office | Nominee | Assumed office | Left office |
| Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation Directorate ||||
| — Director of Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation | Susanna Blume | August 5, 2021 (Confirmed July 30, 2021 by voice vote) | — |
| Operational Test and Evaluation Directorate ||||
| — Director of Operational Test and Evaluation | Douglas C. Schmidt | April 8, 2024 (Confirmed February 29, 2024 by voice vote) | — |
| — Director of Operational Test and Evaluation | Nickolas Guertin | December 20, 2021 (Confirmed December 14, 2021 by voice vote) | December 20, 2023 |
| Permanent Joint Board on Defense ||||
| — Chair of the United States Section of the Permanent Joint Board on Defense for the United States and Canada | Melissa Dalton | October 27, 2022 | — |
| National Reconnaissance Office ||||
| — Inspector General of the National Reconnaissance Office | Terrence Edwards | December 28, 2022 (Confirmed December 22, 2022 by voice vote) | — |

## Department of the Army

| Office | Nominee | Assumed office | Left office |
| — Secretary of the Army | Christine Wormuth | May 28, 2021 (Confirmed May 27, 2021 by voice vote) | — |
| — Under Secretary of the Army | Gabe Camarillo | February 8, 2022 (Confirmed February 2, 2022 by voice vote) | — |
| — General Counsel of the Army | Carrie Ricci | January 3, 2022 (Confirmed December 14, 2021 by voice vote) | — |
| — Assistant Secretary of the Army (Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology) | Douglas R. Bush | February 11, 2022 (Confirmed February 9, 2022, 93–2) | — |
| — Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works) | Michael L. Connor | November 29, 2021 (Confirmed November 4, 2021, 92–5) | — |
| — Assistant Secretary of the Army (Financial Management and Comptroller) | Caral Spangler | August 17, 2021 (Confirmed August 9, 2021 by voice vote) | — |
| — Assistant Secretary of the Army (Installations, Energy and Environment) | Rachel Jacobson | April 4, 2022 (Confirmed March 15, 2022 by voice vote) | — |
| — Assistant Secretary of the Army (Manpower and Reserve Affairs) | Agnes Schaefer | December 23, 2022 (Confirmed December 21, 2022, 68–26) | — |

## Department of the Navy

| Office | Nominee | Assumed office | Left office |
| — Secretary of the Navy | Carlos Del Toro | August 9, 2021 (Confirmed August 7, 2021 by voice vote) | — |
| — Under Secretary of the Navy |
| — Under Secretary of the Navy | Thomas Mancinelli | August 20, 2024 | — |
| — Under Secretary of the Navy | Erik Raven | April 13, 2022 (Confirmed April 7, 2022 by voice vote) | August 2024 |
| — General Counsel of the Navy | Sean Coffey | February 16, 2022 (Confirmed February 9, 2022, 79–17) | — |
| — Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Manpower and Reserve Affairs) | Franklin Parker | January 18, 2023 (Confirmed December 22, 2022, 70–22) | — |
| — Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Energy, Installations and Environment) | Meredith Berger | August 5, 2021 (Confirmed July 22, 2021 by voice vote) | — |
| — Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Financial Management and Comptroller) | Russell Rumbaugh | January 3, 2023 (Confirmed December 19, 2022, 80–10) | — |
| — Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Research, Development and Acquisition) | Nickolas Guertin | December 20, 2023 (Confirmed December 13, 2023 by voice vote) | — |

## Department of the Air Force

| Office | Nominee | Assumed office | Left office |
| — Secretary of the Air Force | Frank Kendall III | July 28, 2021 (Confirmed July 26, 2021 by voice vote) | — |
| — Under Secretary of the Air Force | Melissa Dalton | May 29, 2024 (Confirmed May 23, 2024, 56–39) | – |
| — Under Secretary of the Air Force | Kristyn E. Jones | March 6, 2023 | May 29, 2024 |
| — Under Secretary of the Air Force | Gina Ortiz Jones | July 26, 2021 (Confirmed July 22, 2021 by voice vote) | March 6, 2023 |
| — General Counsel of the Air Force | Peter Beshar | March 18, 2022 (Confirmed March 10, 2022 by voice vote) | — |
| — Assistant Secretary of the Air Force (Acquisition, Technology and Logistics) | Andrew P. Hunter | February 7, 2022 (Confirmed February 2, 2022 by voice vote) | — |
| — Assistant Secretary of the Air Force (Financial Management & Comptroller) | Kristyn E. Jones | May 4, 2022 (Confirmed April 28, 2022 by voice vote) | July 10, 2024 |
| — Assistant Secretary of the Air Force (Installations, Environment & Energy) | Ravi Chaudhary | April 7, 2023 (Confirmed March 15, 2023, 65–29) | — |
| — Assistant Secretary of the Air Force (Manpower & Reserve Affairs) | Alex Wagner | June 10, 2022 (Confirmed June 7, 2022, 76–21) | — |
| — Assistant Secretary of the Air Force (Space Acquisition and Integration) | Frank Calvelli | May 5, 2022 (Confirmed April 28, 2022 by voice vote) | — |

## Withdrawn nominations

| Office | Nominee | Announced | Withdrawn |
| — Under Secretary of Defense (Acquisition and Sustainment) | Michael Brown | April 2, 2021 | July 20, 2021 |
| — Assistant Secretary of Defense (Manpower and Reserve Affairs) | Brenda Sue Fulton | April 23, 2021 | September 29, 2022 |
| — Under Secretary of Defense (Policy) | Derek Chollet | July 25, 2023 | January 3, 2025 |
| — Under Secretary of Defense (Intelligence and Security) | Tonya P. Wilkerson | May 2, 2024 | January 3, 2025 |
| — Inspector General of the National Security Agency | Kristi Lane Scott | July 31, 2024 | January 3, 2025 |