President Obama will announce the nomination of former Pentagon official Ash Carter as the next defense secretary on Friday morning, a White House official said.
The president will be joined by Mr. Carter and outgoing Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel at the 10 a.m. announcement at the White House.
Mr. Carter’s nomination has been widely expected in recent days after several other candidates, including Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, took themselves out of consideration.
A visiting fellow at Stanford University, Mr. Carter served as deputy defense secretary from October 2011 to December 2013, when he was the Pentagon’s chief operating officer. For two years prior to that, he served as the Defense Department’s chief weapons buyer.
Senators of both parties have said they expect Mr. Carter to have a relatively smooth confirmation.
Mr. Hagel said Thursday that his resignation was not prompted by “major differences” with Mr. Obama, rebutting reports that he had been fired or quit due to White House micromanagement. He said he decided to step down after several conversations with the president led him to believe that the Pentagon needed a change in leadership.
“This was a mutual decision based on the discussions that we had,” Mr. Hagel said. “I don’t think there’s ever one overriding or defining decision in situations like this, unless there’s some obvious issue, and there wasn’t, between either one of us.”
Mr. Hagel, the first former enlisted man ever to serve as defense secretary, has been in office since February 2013.
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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