The Senate plans to vote Monday on President Trump’s nominee for Air Force secretary.
Heather Wilson, a former New Mexico congresswoman and Air Force veteran, was approved a month ago by a Senate committee, and if confirmed by the full chamber, could be the first administration appointee to take a seat at the Pentagon since Defense Secretary Jim Mattis was confirmed in January.
The Trump administration has been slow to fill seats and some other defense nominees have dropped out after being unable to clear ethics hurdles.
Wilson, who represented New Mexico in the House for a decade, faced pointed questions from Democrats on the Senate Armed Services Committee about payments she accepted from the country’s contractor-run nuclear laboratories after she left Congress.
Inspector general reports found the payments were not properly documented, but Wilson told lawmakers she did nothing improper and was paid for consulting work performed.
Wilson graduated from the Air Force Academy and was a Rhodes scholar. Since 2013, she has been the president of South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, a university that provides engineering and science degrees.
As part of her ethics agreement, Wilson agreed to quit the university job and divest from a raft of Defense Department contractor stocks.
Financial entanglements led Trump’s first Army secretary nominee Vincent Viola, a billionaire Wall Street trader, to withdraw.
Trump’s current pick for the Army position, Mark Green, is under fire from Democrats and liberal advocacy groups over his past comments opposing gay marriage, transgender bathroom rights and teaching Islam in public schools.
Philip Bilden, a businessman and Army Reserve intelligence officer, withdrew his Navy secretary bid in February. Trump has yet to submit a new candidate for that position.
