WASHINGTON — Staten Island’s recently departed Congressman Max Rose is heading back to Washington, DC.
The one-term Democratic lawmaker, who only just pulled the plug on his short-lived 2021 mayoral bid, will serve as a senior COVID-19 adviser to the secretary of defense in the Biden administration, according to planning documents obtained by Defense One.
Rose, an Afghan war veteran and Army reservist, lost his Staten Island seat to Republican challenger Nicole Malliotakis, a popular state assemblywoman first elected in 2010.
Just weeks after his defeat, the 34-year-old lawmaker filed paperwork with New York’s Campaign Finance Board to join the crowded race to become Gotham’s mayor.
But he bowed out earlier this month, perhaps in preparation for his new Pentagon role.
In April, Rose deployed with the National Guard to assist with the coronavirus response in his hard-hit district and worked as an operations officer in a project to construct a 262-bed emergency hospital at South Beach Psychiatric Center.
The father of one holds the rank of captain in the Army National Guard.
Rose served in Afghanistan from 2012 to 2013, for which he earned a Bronze Star, Purple Heart and Combat Infantry Badge.
While Rose has been designated as a special assistant to President-elect Joe Biden’s defense secretary, the top job at the Pentagon still hangs in the balance.
The incoming commander-in-chief’s pick for the role, retired four-star Gen. Lloyd Austin, needs a waiver from Congress to override a law that says a defense secretary must wait seven years after active service to take the top civilian post. Austin retired in 2016.