Biden to nominate top Air Force general to lead Joint Chiefs of Staff

President Biden reportedly will nominate Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., the Air Force chief of staff, as the nation’s top military officer. If approved by the Senate, Gen. Brown will succeed Army Gen. Mark A. Milley as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff following his retirement this year.

Gen. Brown — known as C.Q. in the Pentagon — would become the second Black man to be chairman of the Joint Chiefs. The late Army Gen. Colin Powell held the position during the George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton administrations.

Gen. Brown’s confirmation would also result in another first: The top civilian and military jobs in the Pentagon would be held by Black men, with Gen. Brown joining Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.

President Donald Trump nominated Gen. Brown to become Air Force chief of staff, and he was unanimously confirmed by the Senate. Mr. Biden also considered Gen. David H. Berger, commandant of the Marine Corps, for the top spot but ultimately went with the Air Force candidate, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Gen. Brown previously served as commander of Pacific Air Forces, the air component of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command. His experience in the region could be significant with China considered America’s primary challenge. He also held high-level positions for the Air Force in Europe and the Middle East.

According to multiple reports, it isn’t clear when Mr. Biden would formally name Gen. Brown as his pick for chairman.

Although considered less publicly confrontational than the man he would be replacing at the Pentagon, Gen. Brown would still hear from a Republican-controlled House of Representatives. Several top Republican lawmakers have accused officials in the Pentagon of focusing on woke policies at the expense of military readiness. Ultimately, the Senate is the only chamber to vote on the chairman’s confirmation.

Gen. Brown released a five-minute video amid national unrest after the May 2020 death of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer. The general spoke of the difficulties many Black Americans face and his own challenges rising through the ranks of the Air Force.