Austin taps top State Department adviser as Pentagon chief of staff

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin attends a news conference during a defense ministers' meeting at NATO's headquarters in Brussels, Belgium on June 14, 2024. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has tapped a senior State Department official and veteran policy hand under successive Democratic presidents as the Pentagon’s new chief staff, officials said, as the Biden administration races to lock in key defense priorities ahead of November elections.

Austin, a former Army general, and his inner circle came under intense scrutiny after news emerged earlier this year that he had been hospitalized in intensive careJeremy Bash, who served as chief of staff to Leon Panetta when he was defense secretary, cited a description used by Robert Gates, another former Pentagon chief, who said the defense secretary position really consisted of two jobs: secretary of war and secretary of the Pentagon — the sprawling military bureaucracy, which spans scores...

He said the uncertainty about what would occur after November’s elections must not prevent the department from pursuing longer-term goals. “We won’t make any assumptions about what’s coming, but just drive hard to finish the first term with the national defense strategy as our north star, and then go from there,” he said.

Barbara Leaf, a top diplomat for the Middle East, he has played a leading role in crafting a proposal — which many outside experts see as a long shot — that would stabilize Gaza after fighting ends, advance a Palestinian-Israeli peace process, and normalize ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia. He has also worked closely with top White House official Brett McGurk on a proposed U.S.-Saudi defense pact.

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