His first nomination fell apart. Now NC’s Tony Tata is moving toward confirmation
A former North Carolina official’s nomination by President Donald Trump to serve in his administration was too controversial to make it to a Senate confirmation hearing in 2020.
On Tuesday, he got a second chance.
President Donald Trump nominated Tony Tata, 65, to serve as under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness, a role within the Department of Defense. The job comes with a $165,300 salary.
Tata is the former North Carolina secretary of transportation and superintendent of Wake County Public Schools.
Sen. Thom Tillis, a Republican from North Carolina, introduced Tata to the Senate Committee on Armed Forces on Tuesday morning. Tillis served as North Carolina’s House speaker while Tata was transportation secretary.
“I saw first hand how he dedicated himself to working with planners and business leaders to modernize our state’s infrastructure and passed what seemed at the time, controversial policies that put North Carolina’s infrastructure on the right track,” Tillis said.
“Tony’s prior experience as a senior Pentagon leader equipped him to provide the steady leadership and strategic insight to advance the administration’s defense priorities and initiatives,” he said. “His prudent track record of managing complex organizations will be invaluable to ensuring our military’s readiness.”
Trump nominated Tata, in February, to serve in one of the Pentagon’s top positions, but did so without the usual announcement on Truth Social or in a news release.
The under-the-radar nomination came five years after Tata’s nomination in Trump’s first term was compromised by comments Tata made about former President Barack Obama and Islam.
Tillis acknowledged that those comments from 2018 would come up again.
“I suspect some of you have tough questions about Tony’s past comments,” Tillis said Tuesday. “The thing I learned about Tony is he takes responsibility for his words and actions, he learns from his past mistakes, which is the testament of a good leader. And I think we’ll see that on display today.”
In 2020, Trump wanted Tata to serve as under secretary of defense for policy. But he faced opposition from military personnel, senators and advocacy groups.
A letter signed by 51 organizations accused Tata of being racist against Black people, noting that he called Obama a “terrorist leader” and Islam the “most oppressive violent religion.”
The letter also accused Tata of discrimination against Black, Latino and disabled students in Wake County and trying to segregate the school system.
“One simply cannot lead a diverse department while having such contempt for diverse people,” the letter read. “A vote for Anthony Tata would be a vote to confirm one of the most clearly bigoted executive nominees in recent memory.”
Tata withdrew his nomination just moments before his Senate confirmation hearing was set to begin.
On Tuesday, Tata testified that he regretted his comments.
“Five years ago, I submitted an apology letter to this committee about those comments,” Tata said. “I have 45 years of solutions-oriented leadership; that was out of character. I regret it, and I can guarantee you that if confirmed I will be an apolitical leader that is trying to take care of the men and women in uniform and their families.”
In 2020, Trump found another way for Tata to serve. He made Tata deputy under secretary of defense for policy, a position that did not require Senate approval. Just three months later, his boss resigned and Tata became acting under secretary, a position he would hold until February 2021, when then-President Joe Biden’s defense secretary, Lloyd Austin, fired him.
North Carolina ties
But before any of that took place, Tata’s career would take him to North Carolina multiple times. He would serve two tours of duty at Fort Bragg and was the chief of plans for the 82nd Airborne Division.
In 2010, Tata became superintendent of the Wake County Public School System. But the Wake County Board of Education would fire Tata less than two years later, when the Republican-majority board became a Democrat-majority one.
Months later, in 2013, Gov. Pat McCrory would name Tata as the state’s secretary of transportation. The News & Observer previously reported that Tata was a “forceful advocate” for McCrory’s “highway, ports and railroad improvements campaign.”
But after two years, Tata abruptly resigned, telling The N&O that a combination of work stress, his writing career and the demands of his family caused him to make that decision.
Tata has written 13 Tom Clancy-style novels.
“Anything you haven’t done?” asked Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama during Tuesday’s hearing, while he read through Tata’s resume.
Senate confirmation
Tata was one of two candidates under consideration for positions in the Trump administration who testified Tuesday morning before the Senate Committee on Armed Services.
The committee is chaired by Republican Roger Wicker, of Mississippi. Jack Reed, of Rhode Island, is the committee’s top Democrat. Sen. Ted Budd, a Republican from North Carolina, also serves on the committee.
If Tata is confirmed, he would oversee the Department of Defense’s recruitment, career development, pay, benefits and military operations. He would also oversee the department’s health programs, education system, commissaries and the equal opportunity training program.
Tata faced many questions about whether he would uphold the constitution, his loyalty to Trump, whether he would support Department of Defense personnel and his past comments.
“These weren’t slips of the tongue or out of character, as you noted today, they were repeated, deliberate and public,” Sen. Mazie Hirono, a Hawaii Democrat, said.
She added that he disparaged military leaders and recommended purging officers.
But Tuberville was quick to defend Tata.
“My colleagues seem to be focused on things you’ve said in the past, and I find this interesting given the last four years where a lot of the Democratic Party have continually called conservatives Nazis, fascists, threats to democracy,” Tuberville said. “It goes both ways here.”
It’s not clear when the committee plans to vote on Tata’s nomination, but with a Republican majority it will likely move quickly to the Senate floor for a full vote.
This story was originally published May 6, 2025 at 6:00 AM with the headline "His first nomination fell apart. Now NC’s Tony Tata is moving toward confirmation."
