Senior administration officials confirm that President Obama has chosen former Defense Department general counsel Jeh Johnson [pronounced "Jay"] to succeed Janet Napolitano as Homeland Security secretary.
Napolitano stepped down in early September to lead the University of California System.
Johnson would become the first African American to lead DHS.
He's 56 and is a former federal prosecutor in New York. He was Air Force general counsel during the Clinton administration.
The selection was first reported by the Daily Beast.
