Progressives divided over Biden’s expected pick for Pentagon chief
Michele Flournoy's stated openness to curtailing offensive weapons sales to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates may have reduced opposition from progressive Democrats
President-elect Joe Biden’s long-expected pick for defense secretary, Michele Flournoy, was markedly absent from a list of announced national security appointees Monday and did not partake in a press conference put on by the transition team on Tuesday.
Two former senior officials in contact with the Biden transition team confirmed to Al-Monitor that the pick is still under consideration. So far, reasons for the apparent delay are not entirely clear, though reports circulated that pressure from the Democratic Party’s left flank may have played a role.
Flournoy, who was previously undersecretary of defense for policy during the Obama administration and who has sat on the board of defense contractor Booz Allen Hamilton, has drawn open disapproval in recent weeks from some progressive organizations and members of Congress who see her as too close to the defense industry and too hawkish on US military actions in the Middle East.
Like Antony Blinken, who was announced this week as Biden’s choice for secretary of state, Flournoy supported the Obama administration’s participation in the NATO intervention against Libya’s government in 2011. The move, which Biden has said he opposed, is widely seen as responsible for fragmenting the country’s decadelong civil war. She also advocated a firmer stance on Syria than the Obama administration ultimately chose.
