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The Secretary of Defense should be Reserve General Lloyd Austin, who in 2003 commanded US troops in Baghdad and later commanded the Central Command of the US Armed Forces.
The 67-year veteran of the Iraq-Afghanistan conflict, a high-ranking dimensional general, has become a new front-runner for the job as Biden faces pressure to appoint more minority representatives to office. The position was previously predicted to go to former Under Secretary of Defense Michele Flournoy.
CNN television, Politico and The New York Times cited anonymous sources as aware of the decision after Biden said early Monday that he had made a decision and would make a statement Friday.
To fill the post of head of the Pentagon, Austin’s candidacy must first be approved by the Senate. The upper house of Congress will also have to grant you special permission, as the country has a law that requires army officers who go into reserve to wait seven years before serving as secretaries of defense.
That rule is based on the view that only civilians should work in this position.
Such permission was granted only twice, most recently in 2017, when the Senate appointed General Jim Mattis, the first Secretary of Defense in President Donald Trump’s administration.
However, members of the Senate then expressed their reluctance, and several of them said they would not do so again.
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