The American newspaper “Politico” revealed Tuesday that US President-elect Joe Biden has selected Retired Gen. Lloyd Austin to serve as secretary of defense.
Biden revealed on Tuesday his intention to announce the new defense minister, next Friday, amid pressure from the Democratic Party about the personality of the most important minister in the Biden administration.
Austin, who also ran U.S. Central Command before retiring in 2016, emerged as a top-tier candidate in recent days after initially being viewed as a longshot for the job. Michèle Flournoy, Obama’s former Pentagon policy chief, was initially viewed as the frontrunner, but her name was notably absent from Biden’s rollout of key members of his national security team two weeks ago.
According to US media, Biden is under pressure from the Democratic Party to select a defense minister of African origins.
Biden had been under growing pressure to nominate a Black person to be his defense secretary in recent weeks. He chose Austin after also considering former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson for the job, several people familiar with the discussions said, according to Politico.
"General Austin is a southerner, has impeccable credentials given his military career and would be an outstanding secretary for the department,” Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), a CBC member who is close to Biden, told POLITICO earlier Monday.
A person familiar with Biden’s decision said the president-elect chose Austin because he is crisis-tested and respected across the military. Biden also trusts Austin, as they worked together when Biden served as vice president and had a large foreign policy portfolio.
Austin visited Egypt several times during assuming the leadership of the US Central Command in the Middle East, he met President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and the generals of the Egyptian Armed Forces.
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