He was confirmed by the United States Senate on February 26, 2012 to become Secretary of Defense during Barack Obama's second term replacing Leon Panetta.
h iː WORD_BOUNDARY w ʌ z WORD_BOUNDARY k ə n f ɜː m d WORD_BOUNDARY b aɪ WORD_BOUNDARY ð ə WORD_BOUNDARY j uː n aɪ t ɪ d WORD_BOUNDARY s t eɪ t s WORD_BOUNDARY s ɛ n ə t WORD_BOUNDARY ɔ n WORD_BOUNDARY f ɛ b ɹ uː ɛ ɹ i WORD_BOUNDARY t w ɛ n t i WORD_BOUNDARY s ɪ k s WORD_BOUNDARY t uː WORD_BOUNDARY θ aʊ z ə n d WORD_BOUNDARY t w ɛ l v WORD_BOUNDARY t ə WORD_BOUNDARY b ɪ k ʌ m WORD_BOUNDARY s ɛ k ɹ ə t ɹ i WORD_BOUNDARY ʌ v WORD_BOUNDARY d ɪ f ɛ n s WORD_BOUNDARY d ʊ ɹ ɹ ɪ ŋ WORD_BOUNDARY b ə ɹ ɹ ɑ k WORD_BOUNDARY oʊ b ɑ m ə z WORD_BOUNDARY s ɛ k ə n d WORD_BOUNDARY t ɜː m WORD_BOUNDARY ɹ ɪ p l eɪ s ɪ ŋ WORD_BOUNDARY l iː ɑ n WORD_BOUNDARY p æ n ɛ t ə WORD_BOUNDARY