WASHINGTON, Feb 11 (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate confirmed on Wednesday William Lynn, a former Raytheon Co lobbyist, to be deputy secretary of defense after he received a special White House waiver from strict new rules meant to close a 'revolving door' between government and big business.
Lynn, the Pentagon's chief financial officer from November 1997 to January 2001 under former President Bill Clinton, was confirmed by a vote of 93 to four.
Later at Raytheon, he was registered as the company's top lobbyist to the Defense Department until last year.
Raytheon, the world's biggest missile-maker and the Pentagon's No. 6 supplier by sales, received $12.1 billion in Defense Department prime contracts in fiscal 2008.
President Barack Obama's new ethics rules bar lobbyists for two years from working as appointees on matters they had lobbied about, but the White House Office of Management and Budget gave Lynn a waiver to further 'the public interest.'
(Reporting by Jim Wolf; editing by Carol Bishopric) Keywords: OBAMA PENTAGON/RAYTHEON (jim.wolf@thomsonreuters.com; +1-202-898-8402; Reuters Messaging: jim.wolf.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
Lynn, the Pentagon's chief financial officer from November 1997 to January 2001 under former President Bill Clinton, was confirmed by a vote of 93 to four.
Later at Raytheon, he was registered as the company's top lobbyist to the Defense Department until last year.
Raytheon, the world's biggest missile-maker and the Pentagon's No. 6 supplier by sales, received $12.1 billion in Defense Department prime contracts in fiscal 2008.
President Barack Obama's new ethics rules bar lobbyists for two years from working as appointees on matters they had lobbied about, but the White House Office of Management and Budget gave Lynn a waiver to further 'the public interest.'
(Reporting by Jim Wolf; editing by Carol Bishopric) Keywords: OBAMA PENTAGON/RAYTHEON (jim.wolf@thomsonreuters.com; +1-202-898-8402; Reuters Messaging: jim.wolf.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.