Whilst José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero's term, Carme replaced María Antonia Trujillo as minister of Housing.

She became the first female minister of Defence in Spain, which, together with the fact that she was seven months pregnant at the time, was considered a significant development by the press.

In 2009, Carme announced the controversial withdrawal of Spanish troops set in Kosovo due to its unrecognizable independence proclamation for the country.

Months later, she travelled to Haiti to decorate dead Spanish soldiers on a helicopter crash and visit those deployed due to an earthquake.

At the NATO summit in Lisbon in 2010, she informed that the Spanish Armed Forces would start the transference of two Afghan provinces under their control in 2011, three years before the established date by the Alliance for the retreat of the troops.

She also chaired the meetings of the EU defence ministers while Spain held the European Union's six-month rotating presidency.

This law allows the soldiers to have an associative activity and creates a committee or Junta de Personal acting as a link between the Ministry and the troops.

[2] When Rubalcaba later announced his resignation after his party's dismal showing in the 2014 European elections, Chacón was widely seen as one of the frontrunners for his replacement, but did not run.