Biden chooses retired general Lloyd Austin as defense secretary

SANAA, Dec. 9 (YPA) – US President-elect Joe Biden confirmed his selection of retired General Lloyd Austin to take over the Department of Defense, and if he is confirmed in the Senate, he will become the first African-American person to lead the Pentagon.

According to the agency, “Agence France Presse,” Biden said in a statement, on Tuesday: “The 67-year-old Austin is qualified to face the challenges and crises that we face at the present time.”

Austin retired from the army in 2016 after more than 40 years of service and assuming this position is not certain, as lawmakers and national security experts have declared their opposition to this designation, noting that his retirement period is still less than seven years.

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

Since Lloyd is retired for a short time, MPs will have to grant him an exemption, and this is what they did in 2016 to appoint Jim Mattis, but they protested at the time.