Sources: Biden picks Lloyd Austin as Defense Secretary

US President-elect Joe Biden chose retired General Lloyd Austin as defense minister in his next administration, according to several US media, and he would be, if Congress approved his appointment, the first African American defense secretary.

This retired 67-year-old general participated in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, before becoming the first man of African origins to assume the central command of the US military on the Middle East region.

Biden may officially announce his name on Tuesday, according to what the American Politico magazine said, the first to reveal the name, which was later confirmed by the New York Times and the American "ABC" channel, but Biden's team has remained silent so far.

Biden worked with General Austin under Barack Obama, when he oversaw the implementation of the former president's decision to withdraw 50,000 US troops from Iraq in 2011.

If approved by Congress, Austin would be the first African American to lead an army that includes a large number of the black minority.

The former general surpassed the preferred candidate for Defense Secretary Michel Flournoy, the former Under Secretary of Defense, who would have become the first woman to hold this department.

Austin took over command of US forces in the Middle East between 2013 and 2016, succeeding Jim Mattis, who was the former Defense Secretary under Trump between 2017 and 2019.

However, the confirmation of his appointment in Congress is not certain, as MPs and national security experts have declared their opposition to this designation, indicating that his retirement period is still less than seven years.

And Congress adopted a rule stating that any former military candidate to take over the Department of Defense must have been retired for at least seven years.

Since Austin has been retired less than a while ago, lawmakers will have to grant him an exemption, which is what they did in 2016 to appoint Mattis, but they protested at the time.

Biden, who takes office on January 20, confirmed to reporters on Monday that he would unveil the name of his candidate for the Defense Ministry on Friday.

Biden, 78, and his future deputy, Kamala Harris, pledged to have a government that is "like America" ​​in all of its diversity.

T/S

ANHA