(Karachi) Joe Biden is moving forward to assemble a diverse cabinet with Michele Flournoy reportedly being a top choice for US defence secretary and Susan Rice considered a frontrunner for secretary of state, The Guardian reported.

As per details, Flournoy, who had served as a senior defense adviser in Bill Clinton and Barack Obama’s administrations and is considered a political moderate is likely to become defence secretary as she has been involved in various consultancy roles around military contracts.

After approval from the US Senate, Flournoy will be the sixth defense secretary as earlier, five male secretaries, who were working under the Trump administration, were fired. The latest, Mark Esper, was unceremoniously fired on Monday for, among other issues, disagreeing with the president over the use of force against civilian protesters.

As part of her duties, Michele would be responsible for deploying the military to distribute a Covid-19 vaccine. The US President-elect Biden will have to face a challenge getting his cabinet approved by Republican-held Senate.

Similarly, Rice, who served as national security adviser and ambassador to the United Nations in the Obama administration, is being considered for her role in state department.

Biden had also indicated that he is getting closer to picking a cabinet that will face steep challenges once the president-elect enters the White House on 20 January.

Biden is also expected to include Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana in his cabinet to serve as ambassador to United Nations. Buttigieg had became an effective campaigner for Biden after he dropped his own presidential ambitions.

Another important inclusion in the cabinet could be of Lael Brainard, a governor at the Federal Reserve. He is expected to take responsibility as treasury secretary, while Doug Jones, recently defeated as Senator from Alabama, or Sally Yates, acting attorney general under Trump before being fired, could be put forward as attorney general.