President-elect Joe Biden has said he will name another key member of his national security team this week.
Biden told reporters that he'll announce his intended defense secretary pick on Friday. The move comes as the military grapples with rising coronavirus cases and troops around the world contend with threats from Russia, China, Iran and others.
The president-elect's defense secretary pick was conspicuously absent when he announced other members of his security team in November, including his choice of Anthony Blinken for secretary of state, Avril Haines for director of national intelligence and Alejandro Mayorkas to lead the Department of Homeland Security.
While some are leaning on Biden to pick the first-ever woman for the Pentagon's top job, others want to see a minority in the role.
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Biden has long been expected to tap Michèle Flournoy, a former defense official and cofounder of the Center for a New American Security. But when progressive groups began pushing back due to her past policy positions and defense industry ties, retired Army Gen. Lloyd Austin began to emerge as a top pick for SecDef.
Austin, a West Point graduate and the former head of U.S. Central Command who earned a Silver Star in Iraq, is one of two men who could become the first Black defense secretary. The other is former Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson.
Austin, a former four-star general who sits on the board of defense contractor Raytheon Technologies, would need a congressional waiver to permit him to serve in the role, as he retired from the Army in 2016. The current rules stipulate a nominee must be out of the military at least seven years.
Steve Vladeck, a University of Texas School of Law professor who specializes in national security legal matters, noted using the waiver for Austin breaks with longstanding tradition, which could have civil-military implications. The extremely rare waiver was last used for Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, a retired Marine Corps general, in 2017.
"Federal law requires the Secretary of Defense to have been retired from the military for at least seven years," Vladeck said on Twitter Monday. "The law can be waived (as it was for Mattis and for George Marshall in 1950), but there's a reason why the rule exists -- and why it's only been waived twice in 73 years."
Johnson, who led the Department of Homeland Security under President Barack Obama, is also reportedly under consideration. Prior to his role at DHS, Johnson served as the general counsel at the Defense Department and the general counsel of the Air Force during the Clinton administration. Johnson is also on the board of Lockheed Martin Corp., the largest U.S. defense company.
Another woman whose name has come up as a prospect for SecDef is Sen. Tammy Duckworth, an Illinois Democrat. Duckworth, a former National Guard helicopter pilot, lost her legs while serving in Iraq. The combat veteran has been a vocal critic of President Donald Trump, and could also be tapped to serve at the Department of Veterans Affairs, where she worked during the Obama administration.
-- Gina Harkins can be reached at gina.harkins@military.com. Follow her on Twitter @ginaaharkins.
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