Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), a longtime critic of the close relationships between government officials and defense contractors, has lifted holds she previously placed on the nominations of Frank Kendall to be Air Force secretary and Heidi Shyu to be the Pentagon's technology chief after successfully getting the nominees to extend their government ethics pledges.Two sources, one of whom is a congressional aide familiar with the matter, confirmed Kendall and Shyu have agreed to extend their ethics agreements and industry recusals, resulting in Warren lifting her holds on the nominees.Both nominees told Warren they would avoid seeking any waivers, though they did not pledge to never do so, according to documentation Kendall and Shyu provided the senator's office.Kendall, a former Pentagon acquisition chief, has numerous defense industry ties and, according to his financial disclosure report, has earned more than $700,000 in consulting fees from Northrop Grumman and between $500,000 and $1 million for sitting on the board of Leidos. Earlier in his career, Kendall was vice president of engineering at Raytheon.
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