Obama to announce Kerry nomination for secretary of state

[Gerald]

(Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Friday will nominate U.S. Senator John Kerry to replace Hillary Clinton as secretary of state, marking his first major step in the overhaul of his national security team on the cusp of his second term.

Obama settled on Kerry, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the 2004 Democratic presidential candidate, after U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice withdrew from consideration last week. The Massachusetts Democrat is expected to win easy confirmation from his Senate colleagues.

Obama will announce Kerry's nomination at 1:30 p.m. EST but will withhold any decision on a new defense secretary, administration officials said. The president has held off in the face of a growing backlash from critics of former Republican Senator Chuck Hagel, considered a leading candidate to replace Leon Panetta at the Pentagon.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...8BK0QO20121221

This was an expected decision.


Note: Fri Dec 21, 2012 12:55pm EST