Joe Biden Announces Additional Nominations For Department of Defence To Tighten His Security

By Spy Uganda Correspondent 

USA: On Wednesday, Joe Biden’s transition team announced on its website that Kathleen Hicks has been nominated for Deputy Secretary of Defence, and that Colin Kahl has been tapped for Secretary of Defence for Policy.

READ ALSO: Joe Biden Appoints Education Secretary, Announces Free Education For Low-Income Earners

Currently, senior vice president and director of the International Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Hicks served as deputy under-secretary of defence for strategy, plans, and forces, as well as principal deputy under-secretary of defence for policy during the former Barack Obama administration and she will be the first female to serve as Deputy Secretary of Defence.

Kahl began his career in government as an action officer in the Office of the Secretary of Defence and later served as the deputy assistant secretary of defence for the Middle East from 2009 to 2011, according to the biography posted on the transition website.

READ ALSO: Biden, Harris Kick-Off Selection Of Climate & Energy Policies Team

“They know the Pentagon inside and out, and will work with Secretary-designate @LloydAustin to keep us safe and secure,” the transition team said in a tweet, referring to the latest nominees.

Lloyd Austin, a retired four-star Army general, was Biden’s pick for Secretary of Defence.

The nominations came two days after Biden blamed President Donald Trump’s administration officials, those in the Pentagon in particular, for obstructing the presidential transition by withholding access to key information.

READ ALSO: Biden Appoints Former Rival Pete Buttigieg For US Transportation Secretary

“We’ve encountered roadblocks from the political leadership in the Department of Defense and the Office of Management and Budget,” Biden said on Monday while delivering a speech in Wilmington, Delaware.

“Right now, we just aren’t getting all the information that we need from the outgoing administration in key national security areas.”

READ ALSO: Transition In Progress: Joe Biden Appoints Retired General Lloyd Austin As Defence Secretary

Those claims, however, were disputed by Acting Defence Secretary Christopher Miller, who said in a statement later on the same day that Pentagon officials “have been working with the utmost professionalism to support transition activities in a compressed time schedule and they will continue to do so in a transparent and collegial manner.”