Chairman Levin Endorses Lynn, Ex-Raytheon Leader, After OMB Gives Assent

A key Senate leader endorsed President Obama’s nomination of William Lynn, a former executive with missile maker Raytheon Co. [RTN], to be deputy secretary of defense.

Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), the Senate Armed Services Committeen (SASC) chairman, gave his approval after Lynn received an ethics clearance from the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

The nominee more than a decade ago served as an aide on the SASC staff.

Lynn, who served as the Department of Defense comptroller under President Clinton, faced an ethics problem because of his tenure with Raytheon. Stringent new rules that Obama mandated bar hiring people who would work on contracts directly and substantially related to their prior employer for two years. Raytheon is one of the largest defense contractors, providing missiles, interceptors for missile defense systems, and much more to the military.

That would hamstring Lynn if he became the second-highest-ranking Pentagon official.

But the OMB gave Lynn a waiver to permit him to serve as deputy secretary of defense, Levin noted.

"The Director of the … OMB has removed an obstacle to the confirmation of Bill Lynn to be deputy secretary of defense by waiving the provisions of President Obama’s executive order on ethics commitments that would have precluded Mr. Lynn’s service," Levin noted.

To be sure, Levin continued, Lynn will have to observe ethical guidelines.

"The Senate Armed Services Committee will continue to insist that Mr. Lynn comply with a strict set of ethics rules that we apply to all nominees, including the requirement to recuse himself, for a period of one year, from any decisions involving his prior employer, unless specifically authorized to participate by an appropriate ethics official," Levin said.

Further, this will be an individual exemption for Lynn, not a loophole for other Obama administration appointees, the chairman added.

"The decision of the administration to impose an additional set of requirements, and then waive them for this nominee, does not change the standards to which we hold all nominees," the senator cautioned.

That said, however, Levin backs Lynn for the job.

"I support Mr. Lynn’s nomination and look forward to prompt consideration by the Senate," Levin said.

His support for Lynn came in the face of opposition by five private watchdog groups: the Project On Government Oversight, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, Council for Citizens Against Government Waste, Government Accountability Project, and Public Citizen.

"The groups are concerned that Mr. Lynn’s confirmation will undermine the intent of President Obama’s Executive Order that enacts new revolving door restrictions requiring appointees to recuse themselves from work related to their former employer or clients, as well as from matters or issues for which [Lynn] lobbied," the groups argued. They wrote a letter to Levin and the SASC ranking Republican, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, opposing Lynn’s confirmation.

While the groups don’t allege that Lynn is unqualified for the penultimate Pentagon post, they argue that Lynn cannot effectively serve in that position, given his recent employment with a large defense contractor.

They argue that Lynn’s being named to the post could undermine Obama good-government ethics reforms.