What Robert Gates once called "inconceivable to me" -- his remaining as defense secretary beyond Inauguration Day -- is looking a bit more conceivable to the rest of Washington.
The 65-year-old former spymaster has turned publicly mum on the circumstances under which he would stay, even briefly, after President-elect Barack Obama takes office. But one of the leading scenarios for a wartime transition at the Pentagon has Gates holding the fort, at least for some months.
If Gates does stay on, the announcement could come soon.
A national security spokeswoman for Obama, Brooke Anderson, said Thursday she had no comment on Gates or on whether the president-elect has held discussions with any candidate for the Pentagon job.
By keeping mum, both camps may preserve the option of walking away without hard feelings.
The apparent logic in keeping Gates for an extended transition -- but perhaps not for a full presidential term -- is that it would allow time for a secretary-in-waiting, who might come aboard in January as Gates' deputy, to assemble a new team of senior defense policy officials before the top boss departs.