SECARMY John McHugh ( Updated )

President Obama has tapped Rep. John McHugh, a Republican lawmaker from upstate New York and ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, to be Army secretary, according to numerous press reports citing a senior administration official.

McHugh, a nine-term lawmaker, knows the Army well. His district -- New York's 23rd – includes Fort Drum, home to the Army's light infantry 10th Mountain Division. Before becoming the lead Republican on the House defense authorization committee, he was ranking member of the panel's military personnel subcommittee.

Obama is scheduled to make the announcement at 11:55 a.m., an event that will bet met by a collective sigh of relief by many in the Army who were concerned at the early candidacy of a retired Marine Corps general -- Arnold Punaro -- for the SECARMY post.

UPDATE: The White House issued the following statement from the president.

Today, I am proud to announce John McHugh as the next Secretary of the Army. John is a distinguished public servant who will help keep us safe and keep our sacred trust with our soldiers and their families. He is committed to keeping America’s Army the best-trained, the best-equipped, the best-led land force the world has ever seen. As Secretary of the Army, he will ensure that our soldiers are trained and equipped to meet the full spectrum of challenges and threats of our time. And John shares my belief that a sustainable national security strategy must include a bipartisan consensus at home, and he brings patriotism and a pragmatism that has won him respect on both sides of the aisle. I look forward to working with him in the months and years ahead.