The bypassing of Michele Flournoy for the job of secretary of defense and the nomination of a military man in retired Gen. Lloyd Austin has made it almost certain that President-elect Joe Biden will be naming civilian women to top Pentagon posts, say defense experts.
“The Biden administration will probably look for qualified women to hold a fair number, a fair percentage of the top jobs at the Pentagon,” the Heritage Foundation’s Center for National Defense Director Thomas Spoehr told the Washington Examiner.
“The first one I’m looking at is the deputy job,” he added.
American Enterprise Institute security scholar Zack Cooper told the Washington Examiner he also expects the deputy will be a woman and that several women will be appointed to top Pentagon posts.
“After the outcry over this choice among defense experts, there is going to be a strong desire to put a female civilian as the deputy,” he said.
“Austin and the Biden team are going to have to show that they have the coterie of civilian defense experts, including women that they can put into these kinds of positions,” said Cooper.
The head of Biden’s Pentagon transition team, Dr. Kathleen Hicks, is seen as a top contender.
“I’ve never had a better manager than Kath, and she is extremely smart,” said Cooper, noting he has worked for her on numerous occasions.
Hicks is the director of the international security program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Her extensive national security background has earned her service awards from three secretaries of defense and a chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Given Biden’s tendency to choose people he knows and with whom he has a strong relationship, Hicks rises to the top.
“That’s the person that you really trust,” Spoehr said of Hicks, Biden’s choice to lead his Defense Department agency review team, or ART. “She certainly has the knowledge and the experience to do such a job.”
Though Flournoy will likely be considered for the deputy position, the experts believed she may stay out of government and hold out for the top job in the future.
Flournoy may also decline any high-level role in the Pentagon if asked.
“Having been passed over, she may not feel that she’s someone that the president really wants on a senior level in his administration,” Cooper explained. “That may caution her against going in a more junior position.”
Another female defense expert who could step into the deputy job is former Obama Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Christine Wormuth. After serving from 2014 to 2016, Wormuth became the director of the RAND International Security and Defense Policy Center. She is also a volunteer member on Biden’s Pentagon ART team.
“The deputy secretary of defense and the undersecretary of defense for policy are going to be absolutely critical,” said Cooper. “Austin may not have strong views on a lot of subjects. And so, those two positions are going to be absolutely vital to making sure that the Biden team gets good advice on defense issues.”
Austin’s 41-year Army career was largely focused on the Mideast, where the United States is scaling down, whereas the Department of Defense has defined China, Russia, and modernization as key challenges moving forward.
Former Obama acting Deputy Secretary of Defense Christine Fox may also be a contender for either top post.
“She’s certainly capable of doing that job,” said Spoehr, who worked with Wormuth at the Pentagon on the 2014 Quadrennial Defense Review.
Spoehr said Biden may also choose to name a woman, especially one with some military experience, as a service chief or to retain Trump-appointed women already in high-level positions.
Currently, Barbara Barrett serves as the secretary of the Air Force. Ellen Lord is the undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment.
“That is a really hard job to fill,” said Spoehr. “You want somebody that understands engineering and science, industry perspectives.”
Cooper said any of the three contenders will likely be discussed for the deputy or other senior roles at the DOD.
“This may come down to whether any of them have a particularly good relationship, not just with Biden and his topmost advisers, but also with Lloyd Austin,” he said.
