Today's Article - Eric Fanning

This article is for quizzes on Tuesday December 27th...

Eric Kenneth Fanning (born July 2, 1968) is the United States Secretary of the Army, nominated by President Barack Obama on November 3, 2015, and confirmed by the United States Senate on May 17, 2016. Fanning is the 22nd Secretary of the Army, the largest service branch of the U.S. military, and the first openly gay head of any service in the U.S. military.

He has spent most of the preceding 25 years in government service. He worked as a Congressional staffer and consultant before joining the U.S. Department of Defense, where he has held Army, Navy, and Air Force positions.

President Obama nominated him to be Under Secretary of the Air Force on August 1, 2012. He testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee on February 28, 2013. The U.S. Senate confirmed him on April 18, 2013. He assumed the position of Acting Secretary of the Air Force upon the resignation of Michael Donley on June 21, 2013. He served as Acting Secretary of the Air Force from June 21 to December 20, 2013, making him the second longest-tenured Acting Secretary.
In March 2015, Fanning was named "special assistant to the Secretary and Deputy Secretary of Defense (chief of staff)".

 Fanning was appointed Acting Under Secretary of the Army and Chief Management Officer by President Obama on June 30, 2015. On September 18, 2015, the White House announced that President Barack Obama would nominate Fanning as United States Secretary of the Army, and the President did so on November 3, 2015. Fanning left that position on January 11, 2016, to concentrate on his confirmation, being succeeded in the temporary position by Patrick Murphy. The U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee held Fanning's nomination hearing on January 21, 2016, and approved his nomination on a voice vote on March 10, 2016, though a hold was placed on it by Senator Pat Roberts, citing comments President Obama had made about closing the Guantanamo Bay prison.^[15] Senators John McCain, chair of the Armed Services Committee, and Roberts argued about the nomination in the Senate in late April 2016. McCain said: "What we're doing here is we're telling a nominee, who is totally qualified, totally, eminently qualified for the job, that that person cannot fulfill those responsibilities and take on that very important leadership post because of an unrelated issue. That is not the appropriate use of senatorial privilege."