Biden names Pentagon nominees, including first woman to serve as No. 2
SMA NEWS – WASHINGTON
Obama-era Pentagon official Kathleen Hicks has been tapped by President-elect Joe Biden to serve as deputy secretary of defense, the transition announced Wednesday.
The nomination, if confirmed by the Senate as required, will make Hicks the first woman to serve in the No. 2 Pentagon job.
Hicks, who leads the Biden transition effort as head of the Defense Department agency review team, served under President Barack Obama as principal deputy undersecretary of defense for policy. She also served as deputy undersecretary of defense for strategy, plans, and forces.
Prior to joining the Biden transition effort, she was senior vice president, Henry Kissinger chair and director of the international security program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
In addition to Hicks, the transition announced Wednesday that Colin Kahl, Biden’s national security adviser as vice president, will be nominated for undersecretary of defense for policy.
Kahl also previously served in the Obama administration as deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East, but was most recently a strategic adviser at the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement.
In a statement alongside the announcement, Biden argued that Hicks and Kahl “have the broad experience and crisis-tested judgment necessary to help tackle the litany of challenges we face today, and all those we may confront tomorrow.
