President-elect Joe Biden has selected retired Gen. Lloyd Austin to be his defense secretary, three people with knowledge of the matter told Politico on Monday.
Austin is a former commander of U.S. Central Command and was the first Black general to command an Army division in combat and first to oversee a theater of operations. He retired from the military in 2016 after 41 years, and became a board member of Raytheon Technologies and Nucor. Because he has not been out of the military for the required seven years, Austin would need to receive a waiver from Congress to serve as defense secretary.
People familiar with the matter told Politico other candidates included defense policy adviser Michèle Flournoy and former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson.