Bloomberg reports today that the Obama administration is considering replacing outgoing Defense Secretary Robert Gates with current CIA Director Leon Panetta.
With Gates having announced that 2011 will be his last in charge of the Pentagon, the administration has been quietly researching potential successors.
Panetta, who served in Congress for 16 years, then did a tour as head of the Office of Management and Budget under President Bill Clinton, has emerged as the top choice to take the position.
“He understands budgets, and budgets are going to be crucial as we move forward in terms of how you reconcile national security requirements with our ability or willingness to pay for them,” former Defense Secretary William Cohen told Bloomberg.
Also reportedly being considered are Defense Undersecretary Michele Flournoy, Senator Jack Reed (D-R.I) and Navy Secretary Ray Mabus.
Gates has been mum on when exactly he’ll step down this year, perhaps because of how busy he’s been. The U.S. is currently making a transition out of Iraq, is planning to withdraw some troops from Afghanistan later this year as long as conditions are met, and recently led a NATO campaign to impose a no-fly zone over Libya.