President-Elect Joe Biden has selected Lloyd Austin to run the Pentagon. If confirmed, Austin would be the first African-American person to serve as Secretary of Defense, as was reported by Рolitico.
The official announcement of the decision is expected on Tuesday, December 8.
Austin Lloyd is a barrier-breaking former four-star officer and the first Black general to command an Army division in combat, as well as the first one to oversee an entire theatre of operations.
Biden and Austin became acquainted during the Obama administration’s Iraq drawdown; Former Vice President Biden led Iraq policy and Austin served as the general of U.S. forces in Iraq. In that position, Austin played a key role in the surge of forces that began in 2007. He was in charge of the withdrawal of U.S. combat forces in 2011.
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. With growing pressure on Biden to nominate a Black person to be the Secretary of Defense, he chose Austin after also considering former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson for the job.
According to the source, Biden offered Austin the job on Sunday, and Austin accepted the same day. Austin declined to comment through a spokesperson. A spokesperson for the Biden transition team also declined to comment.