Overnight Defense: Trump reportedly picking Mattis for Defense chief

THE TOPLINE: Cabinet speculation is reaching a fever pitch. On Thursday, news outlets reported that President-elect Donald Trump had picked retired Marine Gen. James “Mad Dog” Mattis to be his defense secretary.  

“President-elect Donald Trump has chosen retired Marine Gen. James N. Mattis to be secretary of defense, according to people familiar with the decision,” The Washington Post reported. 

However, soon after, Trump transition team spokesman Jason Miller denied the report on Twitter, writing: “No decision has been made yet with regard to Secretary of Defense.”

Trump spokesman Sean Spicer told reporters Wednesday that no more Cabinet announcements were planned this week. The Post reported an announcement on Mattis is “likely by early next week.” 

The Hill’s Rebecca Kheel has more on the conflicting reports here. 

MEANWHILE, ON TRUMP’S POTENTIAL SEC STATE PICK… Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) says President-elect Donald Trump would have an uphill battle getting retired Gen. David Petraeus confirmed as secretary of State.

“I think that could be a real challenge,” he said Thursday on MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports.”

“Especially coming off a campaign where the handling of classified material was made such a central issue by President-elect Trump,” added Coons, who endorsed Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.

Reports emerged Wednesday that Petraeus is likely one of four finalists to run the State Department in the Trump administration.

The other contenders are purportedly 2012 GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) and Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.).

Read more here.  

At the same time, a trio of GOP senators say retired Gen. David Petraeus’s past should not bar him from being President-elect Donald Trump’s secretary of State.

“He is a very capable person and I think it’s totally reasonable that the president-elect evaluate whether he’s the person that a President Trump would need to do that job,” Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) told The Washington Examiner in an article published Thursday. “I don’t think it’s disqualifying.”

Read more here. 

ANTI-ISIS COALITION HAS KILLED 173 CIVILIANS: The U.S.-led coalition fighting the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) raised its count of civilian deaths from the air campaign.

The coalition determined seven additional reports of civilian casualties caused by coalition strikes to be credible. Those strikes likely killed 54 civilians, raising the death toll of civilians killed since the start of the 2014 campaign to 173, according to a statement from Combined Joint Task Force: Operation Inherent Resolve on Thursday.

Read more about the civilian casualties here. 

ON TAP FOR TOMORROW: 

Army Gen. John W. Nicholson Jr., commander, Resolute Support and U.S. Forces Afghanistan, briefs the media at 11 a.m. EST at the Pentagon. He’ll provide an update on operations in Afghanistan. The briefing will also be streamed live on http://www.defense.gov.

ICYMI: 

— The Hill: Warren throws support behind Scott Brown for VA secretary

— The Hill: Obama to mark counterterrorism efforts with Air Force base visit

— The Hill: Defense bill tackles retaliation against military sex assault victims

— The Hill: Kazakhstan: Trump talked up leader’s ‘miracle’ in call

— The Hill: John Bolton: State Dept. needs revolution

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