Presumptive President-elect Joseph R. Biden is expected to tap retired Army Gen. Lloyd Austin as his nominee to be the next secretary of Defense, according to multiple reports on Monday.
If confirmed, Gen. Austin will be the first African American defense secretary.
Gen. Austin retired in 2016 after leading U.S. Central Command, where he made history as the command’s first Black commander. The four-star general also served as the vice chief of staff of the U.S. Army until 2013 and was the last commanding general of U.S. Forces Iraq, Operation New Dawn.
If nominated, Gen. Austin would need a congressional waiver to fill the post as he has not met the required seven years of being removed from the military to fill the Pentagon’s top civilian job.
Former Defense Secretary Gen. James Mattis also required a waiver after being tapped by President Trump to lead the Pentagon.
Politico first reported the news on Monday that Mr. Biden plans to pick Gen. Austin as his nominee for defense secretary.
Mr. Biden’s team did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Mr. Biden had said Monday that he planned to announce his pick for defense secretary on Friday. His team later said the pick would come before the end of the week.
Michèle Flournoy, who had been mentioned for some time as a leading contender for defense secretary, had fallen out of favor with antiwar activists on the left because of her ties to the defense industry.
Ms. Flournoy, a former under secretary of defense for policy in the Obama administration, sits on the board of Booz Allen, a defense contracting firm.
Gen. Austin is on the board of Raytheon Technologies, another giant defense contractor.
Jeh Johnson, a former Homeland Security secretary during the Obama administration, had also been named as a potential defense secretary pick for Mr. Biden.
Mr. Biden has come under recent pressure to put up more Black nominees for top-level Cabinet posts.
Mr. Biden and presumptive Vice President-elect Sen. Kamala D. Harris are scheduled to meet with the leaders of various civil rights organizations on Tuesday.
The presumptive president-elect had also suggested Monday that his pick for attorney general could be coming soon.
Mr. Johnson, who was the first Black Homeland Security secretary, had been mentioned as a possible candidate for that post as well.
Other potential nominees include Sen. Doug Jones of Alabama and former deputy attorney general Sally Yates.
Mr. Jones lost his bid for re-election this year to Republican Tommy Tuberville.
President Trump fired Ms. Yates from her acting attorney general post in 2017 after she refused to defend Mr. Trump’s ban on travel from many majority-Muslim countries.
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, who Mr. Biden named Monday as his pick to head the Department of Health and Human Services, was also thought to have been in the mix for attorney general.
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
• Lauren Toms can be reached at lmeier@washingtontimes.com.
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