Obama defense pick could come sooner than expected

FILE - This Dec, 18, 2008 file photo shows then-Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel in Omaha, Neb. Senior administration officials tell The Associated Press that President Barack Obama could name his next defense secretary in December, far sooner than expected and perhaps in a high-powered package announcement along with his choice for secretary of state. The top names under consideration for defense secretary are former Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, deputy defense secretary Ashton Carter, former top Pentagon official Michele Flournoy, and Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass. (AP Photo/Dave Weaver, File)

By By BEN FELLER and JULIE PACE

Associated Press / December 1, 2012

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A near-term shakeup at the Defense Department would come as the Pentagon faces a flurry of decisions on troop levels in Afghanistan and budgets. The looming end-of-the year spending cuts the White House and Congress are seeking to avert would hit the Pentagon particularly hard.

At Defense, Hagel would give Obama a whiff of bipartisanship, and could be the only Republican in the Cabinet if Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood leaves, as expected.

Flournoy would be the first woman to lead the Defense Department. She served in the Pentagon under Panetta as undersecretary of defense for policy, resigning early this year. She served as a foreign policy adviser to Obama during his re-election campaign.

Carter, who has served as deputy defense secretary for the past year, is a protege of former Defense Secretary William Perry.

Associated Press writers Kimberly Dozier, Lolita C. Baldor and Robert Burns contributed to this report.

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