Deborah Lee James will be the next secretary of the Air Force, according to a Senate confirmation vote Dec 13.

James provided testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee Sept. 19, before the full Senate voted on her confirmation. Now the president must appoint her before she can assume her new position.
 
“I view this opportunity as the privilege and an honor of a lifetime. I will work very hard to insure that I live up to what is an enormous amount of trust that may be placed in me,” said James during her confirmation hearing. “My goal would be to leave our Air Force some years from now on a path toward greater capability and better affordability for our taxpayers, and with the people who underpin everything who are second to none.”

Undersecretary of the Air Force Eric Fanning assumed the role of acting when then-Secretary of the Air Force Michael B. Donley stepped down in June.

President Obama nominated James Aug. 1, 2013. At that time, she was serving as president of the technology and engineering sector at Science Applications International Corporation.

Pending the president's appointment, James will be sworn into the position this month.