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According to US media reports, President-elect Biden has chosen a Secretary of Defense. The election of former black general Austin is historic. You have to take an additional hurdle in Congress.
The president-elect of the United States, Joe Biden, has chosen the former US military commander Lloyd Austin as Secretary of Defense, according to constant media reports. Four informed sources confirmed to the AP the upcoming nomination of the four-star general as a candidate for the Pentagon.
Officially, Biden had yet to announce Austin’s decision. If the Senate agrees, the retired general would be the first black to head the Defense Department.
Austin would need special congressional approval
Austin has decades of military experience. And that’s exactly what could get him into trouble in Congress and in the defense sector, where there are some advocates of a clear separation between civilian and military leadership. While many former Defense Secretaries have served in the military, only two have made careers there as Austin: George C. Marshall and James Mattis.
Like Mattis before him, Austin would need special congressional clearance to serve because his term in the military was not long enough. With the creation of the defense minister’s office in 1947, Congress intended to bring the armed forces under civilian control; only after seven years without a uniform should former members of the armed forces take office. Austin has been retired since 2016.
Major General of the Obama era
Biden has known Austin since he was vice president of the Obama administration. Austin served in the Iraq War as military service throughout its duration. At the time of Obama’s election in 2008, he was in command of multinational troops in Baghdad, and between 2010 and 2011 he returned, commanded US troops in Iraq, and then oversaw the withdrawal. A year later, among other things, he designed strategies to combat the Islamic State terrorist group in Iraq and Syria.
When Austin retired, Obama praised his “character and competence,” as well as his judgment and leadership skills. The 67-year-old graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point. He served in the military for 41 years, until his retirement in 2016.
