In the 1990s, Fanning served on the staff of the
House Armed Services Committee and later as a special assistant in the
Immediate Office of the Secretary of Defense. He later served as associate director of political affairs at the
White House. He worked at
Business Executives for National Security, a Washington, D.C.–based think-tank and at
Robinson, Lerer & Montgomery, a strategic communications firm in
New York City. He served as deputy undersecretary and deputy chief management officer for the
Department of the Navy beginning in July 2009. He was also deputy director of the Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism. 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 by
voice vote 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 until 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
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 by Senator
Pat Roberts, citing comments President Obama had made about closing the Guantanamo Bay prison. 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." On May 17 Roberts told the Senate that he had received sufficient assurances from the Pentagon about Guantanamo and said: "My issue has never been with Mr. Fanning's character, his courage, or his capability. He will be a tremendous leader." The United States Senate confirmed Fanning's nomination that day on a unanimous voice vote. Fanning became 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. Following Senate approval, Fanning thanked his now-husband Benjamin (Ben) Masri-Cohen for his "patience at home" during the confirmation process. With his appointment, he became the highest ranking openly gay member of the Department of Defense. In 2017, the Aerospace Industries Association selected Fanning to become its next President and CEO, succeeding former U.S. Army Lt. General
David Melcher in that role. He began his tenure on January 1, 2018. Fanning and
National Gallery of Art budget analyst Ben Masri-Cohen were privately married by Senator
Cory Booker on December 19, 2018; days thereafter the couple held a New Year's Eve wedding celebration. ==References==