Joe Biden is expected to announce the next big name in his future government. The President-elect of the United States has already unveiled a mixed and feminized team, he could also install the first African-American leader at the head of the Pentagon. According to several American media, he would have chosen to entrust his Ministry of Defense to former General Lloyd Austin. The 67-year-old retired Army General fought in Iraq and Afghanistan before becoming the first colored man to lead the US Army Central Command (Centcom).
Joe Biden could officially reveal his name on Tuesday, said Politico, the first media to reveal this choice. The New York Times, CNN and the ABC channel then confirmed this information. Joe Biden’s team was silent on Monday night. If approved by the Senate, the ex-general would be the first African American to lead the world’s first army, in which the black community is heavily represented. The former head of Centcom – the body overseeing wars in the Middle East – would thus have been preferred to Michèle Flournoy, who could have become the first woman to lead the Pentagon.
Lloyd Austin had succeeded at the head of Centcom to Jim Mattis, who was Donald Trump’s defense minister from 2017 to 2019. He retired in 2016, before moving to the defense industry, like many of its predecessors. He sits on the board of directors of Raytheon Technologies. This position has earned him criticism from some progressives.
Like “America”
Elected officials of Congress and national security experts also spoke out against his appointment, noting that his retirement was less than 7 years old. The US Congress, which maintains civilian control over the military, has adopted a rule stipulating that a former military must be retired for more than 7 years to become Minister of Defense. As this deadline would not be respected with Lloyd Austin, the elected officials should grant him a dispensation. They had done it in 2016 for Jim Mattis, but in protest.
Joe Biden, who will take office on January 20 at the White House, told reporters Monday that he would unveil his choice on Friday for his future Pentagon chief. Michèle Flournoy, 59, former number three in this ministry under Barack Obama, has so far appeared at the top of the forecasts. She had received heavy support on Monday from Democrat Adam Smith, chairman of the House of Representatives’ Armed Forces Committee, who ruled that she was “by far the most qualified person for the post.”
But the former Minister for Defense was criticized in the left wing of the Democratic Party, which considered her too close to the defense industry. And black parliamentarians and personalities called on Joe Biden to appoint more African Americans to key positions in his cabinet. Joe Biden, 78, and future vice president Kamala Harris, 56, the first black woman and first person to hold the office, have pledged a government that “looks like America” ​​in all its diversity.
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