Retired four-star Gen. Lloyd Austin, President-elect Biden's choice for secretary of defense, is forcing members of both parties in Congress to weigh how comfortable they are with placing a recently-retired general in what is meant to be a civilian position leading the American armed forces.
Federal law requires a defense secretary to have been out of uniform for at least seven years, but Congress can make an exception by passing a waiver for an individual nominee.That is what Congress did with former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis under President Trump.The only other defense secretary to be granted such a waiver was George Marshall, who served in the early 1950s.
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