Lloyd Austin becomes first Black chief of Pentagon

 The US Senate confirmed retired general Lloyd Austin as secretary of defense Friday, the second cabinet nominee of new President Joe Biden to gain approval and the first African American to lead the Pentagon. 

Austin sailed through with overwhelming support from both Biden's Democrats and opposition Republicans, who voted 93-2 in his favor.

The retired four-star general will be the first African American to lead the Department of Defense, and takes on the job as the Pentagon sees the need for greater efforts to root out racism in the ranks and give more opportunities for leadership positions to minorities.

Biden picked Austin, and the Senate endorsed him, despite a law that says the US military must be led by a civilian or, if a former military official, someone who has been out of the service at least seven years.

The requirement is to ensure civilian control of the military. That meant both houses of Congress had to grant a waiver for Austin, who retired in 2016.

Austin, a West Point graduate who served four decades in the military, was commander of US forces in Iraq and then head of the US Central Command covering the Middle East, from 2010 to 2016.

He honed in on two urgent issues facing the US military in his confirmation hearing on Tuesday.

He singled out China as the country's most potent adversary. He also pledged to tackle extremists in the forces, after some members of the military took part in the January 6 attack on the US Capitol by supporters of then-president Donald Trump. 

Biden orders assessment of domestic extremism risk, White House says

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On Friday, the White House said Biden has directed his administration to conduct a full assessment of the risk of domestic terrorism. The assessment will be carried out by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence in coordination with the FBI and Department of Homeland Security, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.