Senate clears procurement chief and top defense acquisition officer

Two key Obama administration nominees have won Senate confirmation -- Joseph Jordan to be administrator of the White House Office of Federal Procurement Policy, and Frank Kendall III as Defense undersecretary for acquisitions, logistics and technology. Both were cleared without objection Thursday.

Jordan, who had been serving the Office of Management and Budget as an adviser, replaces Dan Gordon, who left in December 2011 to become a law dean at The George Washington University. Lesley Field had been running the procurement office in an acting capacity. The only opposition to Jordan revolved around the feeling of several senators that he might not aggressively resist the effort by some in the White House to require contracting companies to disclose campaign gifts.

Kendall has been serving Defense Secretary Leon Panetta in an acting capacity since January, when he was named to replace Ashton B. Carter, who is now deputy Defense secretary.