New Delhi: Joe Biden is likely to nominate soon Lloyd Austin, a retired four-star army general, as the next Secretary of Defense, reports said on Tuesday.
President-elect Joe Biden will take oath as the 46th President of the USA on January 20, 2021.
If confirmed by the US Senate, General Austin would be the first Black leader of the Pentagon.
Biden is reported to have selected General Austin over the long-time frontrunner for the position, Michele Flournoy, a former senior Pentagon official and Biden supporter who could have been the first woman to serve as Defense Secretary.
The President-elect had also considered Jeh Johnson, a former Pentagon general counsel and former Secretary of Homeland Security, according to reports.
The 67-year-old General Austin, a career military officer who served 41 years in uniform, may face some opposition in Congress and in the defense establishment who believe in drawing a clear line between civilian and military leadership of the Pentagon.
Although many previous defense secretaries have served briefly in the military, only two – George C Marshall and James Mattis – have been career officers. Marshall also served as Secretary of State.
Earlier, General Austin had served in 2012 as the first Black vice-chief of staff of the army, the service’s number 2-ranking position. A year later he assumed command of US central command, where he fashioned and began implementing a US military strategy against Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria.
Austin retired from the army in 2016. If appointed, he will have to obtain a congressional waiver, exempting him from the legal requirement that a former member of the military is out of uniform at least seven years before serving as Secretary of Defense.
(VP)