Tony Tata

Anthony Jean Tata (born September 7, 1959) is an American retired military officer, author and government official.

Tata is a retired brigadier general of the United States Army, serving until 2009, and later served as a school district administrator for two large school districts in the District of Columbia and North Carolina. He served as Secretary of Transportation of North Carolina from 2013 to 2015 under Governor Pat McCrory. He is the author of the Threat series of thriller novels, and became a regular on Fox News after leaving the army, where he offered pro-Donald Trump commentary. On April 23, 2020 Trump nominated Tata to the post of Under Secretary of Defense for Policy. a hearing on his confirmation was cancelled on July 30, and the White House planned to withdraw the nomination. Later, Tata was appointed as "the official Performing the Duties of the Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Policy reporting to the acting Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, James Anderson." Following Anderson's resignation after the November 2020 elections, Tata served as the de facto acting Under Secretary under the official title "Performing the Duties of Under Secretary of Defense for Policy" until his resignation on January 15, 2021.

Early life and education Tata was born in Norfolk, Virginia, the second son of Robert Tata and Martha Jeraldine Morris Tata. In 1981, Tata received a Bachelor of Science from the United States Military Academy and chose Infantry as his branch of service. While serving as a National Security Fellow at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, Tata earned a Master of Arts in International Relations from the Catholic University of America. Tata is a graduate of the U.S. Army's Ranger School. From 2006 to 2007, he was Deputy Commanding General of the 10th Mountain Division in Afghanistan. Tata served two tours of duty at Fort Bragg in the 82nd Airborne Division. As the Chief of Plans for the 82nd Airborne Division, Tata led the planning effort for Operation Uphold Democracy. He also was brigade commander in the 101st Airborne Division. The OIG concluded in June 2007 that Tata had extramarital affairs in 1985 and 1992 while still married. The affairs involved three different women, and a son born out of wedlock. Adultery is a violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice under certain circumstances. Tata had strained relationships with several members of the Wake County School Board, which shifted to a Democratic majority during Tata's service. Opposition fell along party-lines. Citing concerns over his "leadership style" and his handling of student assignment issues in the large school district, Tata's contract was terminated after less than two years, in 2012. The decision to buy out Tata's contract under a no-fault clause was controversial, with two local polls suggesting that a majority of Wake County voters and parents of children in the district opposed the decision to remove Tata.

Secretary of the North Carolina Department of Transportation In January 2013, North Carolina governor Pat McCrory appointed Tata as Secretary of the North Carolina Department of Transportation. As Secretary he was "a forceful advocate for the governor's highways, ports and railroads improvements campaign" and promoted McCrory's proposals to take out $3 billion in bonds for transportation infrastructure. In November 2018, he defended Trump's decision to send troops to the U.S.–Mexico border.

Conspiratorial and inflammatory comments In Twitter posts and radio-show appearances in 2017 and 2018, Tata repeatedly made the false claim that President Barack Obama was a "Muslim" and a "terrorist leader"; accused Obama of being "an anti-Semite" who wanted to "destroy Israel" and "did not want" to defeat ISIL; and claimed that the negotiation of the multilateral nuclear agreement with Iran was born by Obama's "Islamic roots." He repeatedly pushed the notion that a "deep state cabal" was working to undermine Trump; and, on another occasion, tweeted at Brennan, "Might be a good time to pick your poison: firing squad, public hanging, life sentence as prison b*tch, or just suck on your pistol." On June 11, 2020, Trump formally nominated Tata for the position, which is the third-highest ranking position in the Defense Department. After the nomination was made, 51 minority, LGBT, faith, disability and employee groups (including the NAACP and American Federation of Teachers) sent an open letter to senators opposing Tata's confirmation, calling him "patently unfit" for the post due to his comments and criticizing Tata's record as superintendent of the Wake County, North Carolina school system. Democrats, included Senate Armed Services Services committee ranking member Jack Reed of Rhode Island, strongly opposed Tata's nomination, citing his past comments.

On July 30, 2020, Tata's confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee was canceled just before it was set to begin, signaling that there might not be a sufficient number of Republicans to confirm Tata's appointment.

With the resignation of James Anderson in November 2020, Tata assumed the responsibilities of the acting Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, or "the senior official performing the duties of the under secretary of defense for policy". Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin fired Tata in February 2021.

In December 2020, Trump named Tata to the Board of Visitors of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy.

Second Trump administration On February 3, 2025, Tata was nominated by U.S. President Donald Trump to be the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness. His nomination was confirmed by the Senate on July 15, 2025.

Novelist Tata's work has been referred to as "Tom Clancy-style military thrillers".

Personal life Tata, who is of Italian ancestry, and has two children. He married Tracy Lynn Burt on July 16, 1983; they were divorced in April 1993.