Strange omissions in Joe Biden's appointments and nominations

The ommissions in Biden's cabinet are more interesting than the names he has already made public. The two obvious ones are defence secretary and CIA director. It's extraordinary that when Biden introduced his chosen national security team for the first time this week there was no mention of who will be his choice for defence secretary, surely one of the most important appointments of all. It had been assumed that Michele Flournoy, a veteran Pentagon official who then set up one of the prestigious think-tanks in Washington, would be a shoe-in for the job but in the Democratic party, especially among the more progressive members of the House and Senate, there is opposition to anyone who at any time worked for one of the giant defence companies because of the fear of being influenced. When she left government, she was a board member of Booz Allen Hamilton, a consulting company which has extensive ties to the US defence industry. That time embedded with the defence industry could spoil her chances of being selected for a job which she has always wanted. She would of course be the first woman to be Pentagon chief. She knows the Pentagon, how it works and what needs to be done with it. But will Biden pick her? The fact that he left the job vacant and unmentioned when he showed off the rest of his national security team suggests there's a problem. Flournoy might not get it after all. Or if she does she could have a roasting during the confirmation period when she appears before the Senate, from the Democrat members. As or the CIA job, there's talk of Mike Morrell, formerly acting director and deputy director. While Morrell was a good man, it would seem strange for Biden to turn to him, a veteran who has in many ways done his time at the CIA and moved on. Perhaps Biden might consider hanging on to Gina Haspell, Trump's appointee. This might be controversial. But she is CIA through and through and she risked the sack by declining to put her weight behind Trump's desire for a thorough investigation into what the intelligence services were up to when he was standing for president in 2016. That could be seen as a plus point for her if Biden were to consider her. I think it might be an inspired move by the president-elect to keep Haspel in post.