WASHINGTON – With Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz (search) now the president's nominee to head the World Bank (search), Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is looking for a replacement.
Today, during a briefing on the status of detainees at Guantanamo Naval Base, Navy Secretary Gordon England (search) revealed he's spoken with Rumsfeld about the job.
England became Navy Secretary in May 2001. He left for nine months after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks to serve as deputy secretary of the new Department of Homeland Security (search). He returned to the Navy job in September 2003.
England has earned a reputation in the Pentagon as the "go-to" guy. He's overseen the controversial adjudication of terror detainee cases. And he'd been rumored to be the likely choice to take over as secretary of the Air Force (search), which has been dogged by contracting scandals.
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