Nomination Coming (Updated)

The White House is set to announce the nomination of Robert Work to be deputy defense secretary later today, according to Senate Armed Services Committee spokeswoman Tara Andringa.

The committee today sent out an announcement of a nomination hearing for next week, including Pentagon comptroller nominee Michael McCord as well as Robert Work as the nominee for the deputy defense secretary position, ahead of a White House nomination.

Work served as Navy under secretary from 2009 to 2013 and is a known advocate of the service's embattled Littoral Combat Ship program, which most recently faced the Pentagon axe under acting Deputy Defense Secretary Christine Fox.

Fox, following budget guidance from the Office of Management and Budget, issued a memo in early January proposing cutting the LCS fleet down to 32 ships, instead of the planned 52 ships.

UPDATE, 2:45 p.m.: Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel just made the nominations announcement during a Pentagon press briefing. Hagel also announced during the briefing that Air Force Gen. Paul Selva, the head of Air Mobility Command, has been nominated to take over as the chief of U.S. Transportation Command. If confirmed, he would replace retiring Air Force Gen. William Fraser.