Retired Gen. Eric Shinseki of Kauai has been confirmed by the U.S. Senate as secretary of veterans affairs.

The unanimous vote confirming Shinseki, the first Asian-American to lead the agency, and five other members of President Barack Obama's Cabinet came yesterday, a little more than three hours after Obama took office.

“;General Shinseki has risen from humble beginnings to become the secretary of the second-largest Cabinet-level department in the federal government,”; Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, said in a news release issued in Washington.

“;Twice wounded in Vietnam, Shinseki fought to stay in military service so he could continue to serve his country. I believe he will bring that same commitment and patriotism to his new role,”; Akaka said.

The senator, who chairs the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee, said he looked forward to working with Shinseki and Obama to help the VA fulfill its “;sacred obligation to veterans and their families.”;

Obama has scheduled a meeting with members of his National Security Council this afternoon, administration officials said.

Obama chose Shinseki in December to head the Department of Veterans Affairs.

At a Jan. 14 confirmation hearing chaired by Akaka, Shinseki, the Army's first four-star general of Japanese-American descent, said six-month waits to process a disability claim would not be acceptable under his watch.

He told the senators he did not understand why veterans are currently waiting half a year on average to have a claim processed.

“;We need to do something about this,”; he said.

Yesterday's other Cabinet confirmations were:

» Janet Napolitano, the secretary of homeland security, who is directly responsible for national security issues.

» Peter R. Orszag as director of the Office of Management and Budget, directly responsible for economic issues.

» Steven Chu, the Nobel Prize-winning physicist, as energy secretary.

» Arne Duncan as education secretary.

» Kenneth Salazar, a former senator from Colorado, as interior secretary.

» Thomas Vilsack, the former governor or Iowa, as agriculture secretary.

Senate action on Hillary Rodham Clinton's confirmation as secretary of state was delayed until today after Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said he still had questions about foreign donors to the charitable foundation run by former President Bill Clinton.