New Navy Secretary and Old Sec. are Former Lockheed Chiefs

[bigtree]

Path Cleared for New Navy Secretary

Thursday December 29, 2005 5:02 PM

WASHINGTON (AP) - Donald Winter can be sworn in as the new Secretary of the Navy next week now that his predecessor has given up the post.

Navy Secretary Gordon England - who has also been serving as the acting deputy defense secretary - relinquished his Navy post Thursday, clearing the way for Winter.

Congressional roadblocks have prevented Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld from filling key leadership positions in his department for months. But legal maneuvering by the White House, which formally designated acting deputy England as Rumsfeld's second in command last week, allowed England to relinquish the Navy job.
( 'Chiefs Demoted in Pentagon Succession Line' http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x5704280)

Two senators have blocked England's confirmation as deputy defense secretary, the Pentagon's second-highest position, creating a logjam in the department's hierarchy.

But senators indicated last month that Bush will bypass the Senate and install England as deputy secretary within the next few months using what is known as a recess appointment. Last week Bush issued an order outlining a new Defense Department line of succession, if something happens to the secretary. He also ordered the acting defense deputy to be Rumsfeld's immediate successor.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5510626,00.html


-Donald Winter is a former corporate vice president of Northrop Grumman Mission Systems, a division of Lockheed

- Gordon England, Secretary of the Navy was a General Dynamics contractor and a former president of Lockheed.

With a share of 24% of U.S. arms exports, Lockheed-Martin is the world's largest arms exporting company. Lockheed leads the pack of defense contractors who do business with the U.S. with valuable Pentagon contracts worth a total of nearly $30 billion and an advertised $70 billion backlog.

The Arms Trade Resource Center, reported that 80% of Lockheed's business is with the Department of Defense and other federal government agencies. It is also the largest provider of information technology services, systems integration, and training to the U.S. government. Such business has grown substantially during the Bush tenure, especially in fiscal year 2002 as plans for war were formulated.

http://worldpolicy.org/projects/arms/links.html

[RaleighNCDUer]

1. I wonder if these guys ever read "The Arms of Krupp". nt

[cosmicdot]

2. yet another Bu$h** WH abuse of power: recess appointments

to circumvent the balance of powers ...

Lynne Cheney served on Lockheed Corporation's board of directors from 1994 to 2001, an $120,000-a-year post ... small good ol'boy world, innit? Heck, she was raking in upward to $300K just in Board retainer fees (Reader's Digest, AMEX, Lockheed, Union Pacific) for just waking up every day.


The 2 Senators blocking England's confirmation as deputy defense secretary are Republicans:

"Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, and Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., both have holds on England's confirmation, which has been contested primarily over shipbuilding concerns and potential conflict-of-interest issues surrounding pensions he holds from defense companies."
http://www.military.com/NewsContent/0,13319,80316,00.html