Biden chooses Kathleen Hicks to be first Deputy Secretary of Defence

Biden chooses Kathleen Hicks to be first Deputy Secretary of Defence 

 

The president-elect of the United States, Democrat Joe Biden, chose former Pentagon official Kathleen Hicks as undersecretary of defence of his future administration, who, if confirmed, will be the first woman to hold that position.

 

 

Washington, Dec 30 (EFE).- The president-elect of the United States, Democrat Joe Biden, elected former Pentagon official Kathleen Hicks as undersecretary of Defence of his future government, who, if confirmed, will be the first woman in occupying that position.

 

Hicks, who previously held senior positions at the Pentagon during the Barack Obama administration (2009-2017), is currently the director of the international security program at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a big player in Washington. 

 

Biden's transition team also announced in a statement that Colin Kahl, who was the president-elect's national security adviser when he was the vice president in the Obama administration, will be nominated as undersecretary of defence for policy.

 

Both meetings will have to be finalized by the Senate. 

 

Hicks and Kahl "have the maintained experience and crisis-proof ideas needed to help address the litany of challenges we face today and all that we may face in the future," Biden said in a statement.

 

Since November, Hicks has spearheaded Biden's transition efforts at the Pentagon as head of the team that reviews Department of Defence policies.

 

Kahl, who oversaw Middle East affairs at the Pentagon, is currently co-director of the Centre for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford University in California.

 

Inside the Pentagon, Kahl was also implicated in the withdrawal of troops from Iraq, Iran's containment policy, and strengthening military ties with Israel, according to Biden's transition team.

 

Biden News Conference - The president-elect has appointed General Lloyd Austin, retired for four years, as his secretary of defence, making him the first African-American to hold that position if his appointment is confirmed by the Senate and he gets a congressional waiver to the law preventing the military from taking over the Pentagon until at least seven years have passed since its retirement.