President-elect Joe Biden is going forward with his nomination of a retired four-star General Lloyd Austin as his nominee for the 28th United States Secretary of Defense.
WASHINGTON, D.C. ( THE PAVLOVIC TODAY) — On Wednesday, December 9th, President-elect Joe Biden will introduce retired four-star General Lloyd Austin as his nominee for the 28th United States Secretary of Defense. The event will be live-streamed and take place, in Wilmington, Delaware.
“Austin is a trusted, trailblazing leader who brings deep experience serving as a top military commander and in critical Pentagon roles”, the transition team staid in the statement.
For Biden’s nominee to get confirmed, Congress will need to issue a waiver that a retired General Officer can come back from retirement earlier than the required 7-year cooling-off period from active duty. Austin retired in 2016 and President-elect is seeking an exemption as was the case of Gen Mattis when Trump asked him to serve as the Secretary of Defense.
If confirmed, Austin will be the first African American Secretary of Defense.