Bill LaPlante (c), a previous Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, is the Biden administration’s pick for undersecretary of acquisition and sustainment. (Air Force photo/Scott M. Ash)
Editor’s Note, 11/30/2021 1:21 PM ET: Shortly after publication of this story, the White House formally announced its intent to nominate LaPlante. The original story remains below.
WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden is poised to announce Bill LaPlante, a former Air Force acquisition official, as his nominee to be undersecretary of acquisition and sustainment, Breaking Defense has learned.
If confirmed, LaPlante will step into a job that provides oversight and guidance for billions of taxpayer dollars, but which has been lacking a Senate confirmed official since Biden was sworn in. The lack of a confirmed A&S official has been a source of confusion and consternation among industry executives and acquisition experts throughout the year.
Rumors had spread for several months that the Biden team was eyeing LaPlante for the A&S role after Mike Brown, the Defense Innovation Unit head who had been nominated for the job, withdrew his name from contention. LaPlante’s pending nomination was first reported by Politico; Breaking Defense has confirmed the nomination is expected to come today.
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LaPlante served as the Air Force’s top acquisition official from 2013 to 2015, a period during which he both dealt with keeping investments on track during sequestration and guided the B-21 bomber program through contractor selection (which eventually landed on Northrop Grumman). After leaving office he spent five years at the MITRE Corporation before being named as CEO of Draper Labs in Oct. 2020.
If confirmed, he will work closely with Heidi Shyu, the Pentagon undersecretary for research and engineering — a reunion of sorts, as Shyu served as LaPlante’s Army counterpart during the Obama administration.
LaPlante was a noncontroversial choice when nominated for the Air Force job, being confirmed by voice vote roughly a month after his hearing. But current politics in Washington suggest he may be held up regardless of his credentials. Even if no one Senator objects to his nomination, the process will likely be slow given the number of other priorities on the Senate’s plate.
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