Senate confirms Melissa Dalton to be Air Force's No. 2 civilian

The Senate on Wednesday confirmed Melissa Dalton by a 56-39 vote to be the new Air Force under secretary, filling a role that hasn't had a permanent successor in over a year.

President Biden tapped Dalton in September to take over the office from Gina Ortiz Jones, who held the position from July 2021 to March 2023. Since then, Air Force Comptroller Kristyn Jones has been performing the duties of the under secretary.

Dalton has until now been performing the duties of the deputy under secretary of defense for policy. She received Senate confirmation in 2022 to serve as assistant secretary of defense for homeland security and hemispheric affairs.

The Senate Armed Services Committee in March voted 14-10 to advance her nomination after several Republican lawmakers criticized her resume during a contentious January hearing over the administration's delayed response in identifying the Chinese surveillance balloon last year and her office's alleged mishandling of stored southern border wall materials.

“We’re at a serious, critical time right now in this country. And we need the best and the brightest,” Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) said at the time. “Are you the best to be the under secretary of the Air Force? I don’t see it. . . . I just don’t think you are the best person for the job right now.”

In her new role, Dalton will help mold the service’s annual budget requests and be a point person in implementing several of the organizational changes related to the Air Force’s “Reoptimization for Great Power Competition,” among other tasks.