A senior State Department official has been named Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin's chief of staff.
Derek Chollet, an aid to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, has been appointed by Austin for the position, replacing Kelly Magsamen, who is leaving this month, the Department of Defense confirmed.
Chollet was previously nominated to be the Pentagon's top policy official, but his nomination died in the Senate.
"He is one of the most distinguished, farsighted, and skillful national-security practitioners of his generation," Austin said. "I am grateful to him for taking on this key assignment at such an important moment.
Chollet is being replaced in the State Department by Tom Sullivan, the brother of national security adviser Jake Sullivan.
A senior administration official told the Washington Post that national security officials will be trying to "Trump-proof" key priorities in the event the former president defeats President Joe Biden the 2024 presidential election.
"The chief of staff really has to be an adviser to the secretary on both of those issues, meaning the issues of how the military force of the United States is deployed to deter conflict and win wars, but also how we can rapidly field the capabilities that are going to be necessary for warfare in the balance of the 21st century," Jeremy Bash, who served as chief of staff under former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said.
Chollet told the Washington Post he expects the Pentagon to be focused on helping Ukraine in its war with Russia, assisting Israel in its conflicts in the Middle East and strengthening the U.S.' position in the Indo-Pacific region.
While working in the State Department, Chollet was involved in the administration's response to Israel's war with Hamas and has worked to outline proposals to stabilize Gaza after the war ends, the Post reported.
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