US Vice President Joe Biden, left, swears in Ashton Carter as the new US Secretary of Defense in Washington. (Reuters)
New US Defense Secretary Ash Carter was sworn in by Vice President Joe Biden in a ceremony at the White House on Tuesday after the US Senate overwhelmingly voted to confirm him last week.
Carter, 60, served from 2011 to 2013 as Deputy Defense Secretary, the Pentagon's No 2 position. He was confirmed by a vote of 93-5 on Thursday.
In a message to Department of Defense staff that was made public by the Pentagon, Carter said a top priority would be dealing with congressional funding limits that create "wasteful uncertainty" for defense programs.
"To win support from our fellow citizens for the resources we need, we must show that we can make better use of every taxpayer dollar," Carter said.
© Thomson Reuters 2015