By COREY DICKSTEIN | STARS AND STRIPES Published: January 19, 2021
Retired Army Gen. Lloyd Austin, President-elect Joe Biden’s nominee for defense secretary, committed Tuesday to rebalancing decision-making power in the Pentagon from military officials to career civilians and named addressing China and the ongoing coronavirus pandemic as his top priorities, if he is confirmed.
Austin, who spent 41 years in the Army and retired in 2016 after leading the Defense Department’s U.S. Central Command, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that he understood the “enormous difference” between leading in uniform and serving as the civilian leader of the Pentagon. Like former Marine Gen. Jim Mattis, President Donald Trump’s first defense secretary, Austin requires a waiver of the law that mandates a seven-year “cooling-off period” for retired military officers before they can serve as the Pentagon’s top civilian.