Gates Dodges Question About Possibility Of Keeping Defense Post

November 13, 2008 11:46 a.m. EST

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - Defense Sec. Robert Gates on Thursday spoke for the first time about the possibility of him keeping his post under an Obama administration.

In Estonia for a meeting here of NATO defense ministers, Gates was asked during a press conference about his political future. "I have nothing new to say on that subject," he is quoted by the Los Angeles Times as saying.

President-elect Barack Obama is reportedly considering letting Gates stay on as Defense secretary. But other names are also being floated for key Cabinet post: Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE), a Republican and staunch critic of the war in Iraq; and former Secretary of State Colin Powell, who endorsed Obama a few weeks before election day.

Obama's possible appointment of Gates is acceptable to at least one Democratic leader, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV). Reid said on CNN's "Late Edition" last Sunday that he was open to having Republicans in the Cabinet and that he had no objections to keeping Gates.

"I think we need a good transition there. I am confident that Senator Obama has somebody in mind for secretary of defense but Gates -- you know, it's interesting, my conversation with Secretary Gates, he's not even a Republican. Why wouldn't we want to keep him? He's never been a registered Republican," Reid said.

"I have a lot of favorite Republicans. Chuck Hagel , of course... He was the one that allowed us to break -- and we won a vote on Iraq. We won it because of Chuck Hagel," he added.

Obama transition team co-chairman John Podesta said earlier this week that they would announce their choice for Defense secretary after their review of the department. Obama is sending teams of experts to study federal agencies so his administration can immediately begin implementing policies once he is sworn into office.

Two former Clinton administration officials will lead the review of the Pentagon: John White, chair of the Kennedy School Middle East Initiative at Harvard University and deputy secretary of Defense from 1995 to 1997; Michele Flournoy, president of Washington, D.C.-based think-tank Center for a New American Security, and was simultaneously principal deputy assistant secretary of Defense for Strategy and Threat Reduction and deputy assistant secretary of Defense for Strategy under former President Bill Clinton.