Obama’s Pick for No. 2 Post at Pentagon Gets Ethics Waiver

August Cole reports on the Pentagon. The nominee for the Defense Department’s No. 2 job got a pass on President Barack Obama ’s tough new ethics rules. After a long stint as a senior Washington operations executive at Raytheon Co., William J. Lynn is poised to head back to the Pentagon to become the deputy secretary of defense. He was a registered lobbyist for the giant defense contractor from 2003 through June 2008. Peter Orszag , director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, said in a statement that “it is in the public interest to grant the waiver given Mr. Lynn’s qualifications for his position and the current national security situation.” Specifically, the waiver covers a “revolving door ban” designed to address appointees’ conflicts of interest with former employers or clients during and after their government service. Sen. Carl Levin , chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he was satisfied with the waiver and expected Lynn will ... (link)