White House Staffing, Robert Gates | featured news

With the departure of Robert Gates at the Pentagon, the pending shakeup of the national security team would move Gen. David Petraeus to the CIA. Lt. Gen. John Allen would then replace Petraeus, officials say. President Obama is expected to name CIA Director Leon Panetta as his new Defense secretary and is expected to make David Petraeus, the general now commanding troops in Afghanistan, head of the CIA, according to U.S.

Robert Gates The Secretary of Defense will continue in that position in the Obama administration for at least another year, a Pentagon spokesman said Thursday. "Secretary Gates met with the president just before Christmas and gave him a commitment to stay on the job for at least another year," Geoff Morrell, deputy assistant secretary of defense and Pentagon press secretary, told CNN. Gates served as Secretary of Defense in the last two years of the Bush administration and stayed on in the post when President Obama took office.