WASHINGTON--Sec. of State John Kerry (D-Mass.) will be tapped Friday by President Barack Obama to be the next Secretary of State, the White House confirmed on Friday morning. Kerry, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relatons Committee is expected to have an easy Senate confirmation to follow Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who is stepping down.

Obama will make the announcement at 1:30 p.m. EST.

The selection of Kerry will trigger a special election in Massachusetts to fill his seat, and Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.), defeated in the November election by Sen.-elect Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) may run again.

The White House--revising an earlier scenario--is not rolling out all the national security second term switches. Former Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.,) --who surfaced as a front-runner for Secretary of Defense--has had a series of objections floated to his nomination.