Clarke passed over for Trump cabinet post

Milwaukee County Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr. has been passed over for the job of heading the Department of Homeland Security in President-elect Donald Trump's administration.

Trump instead will name another retired military general on his staff by selecting retired Marine general John Kelly to head the cabinet-level agency.

Clarke, who campaigned across the country for Trump, was reportedly one of six candidates for the homeland security post. The Milwaukee sheriff met with the president-elect and a small collection of top advisers at Trump Tower on Nov. 28.

RELATED: Ongoing coverage of Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr.

In a statement to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Clarke said he did not throw his support behind Trump in hopes of landing a job in Washington, D.C.

"President-elect Trump gets to decide who he wants to fill these positions," Clarke said on Wednesday. "I like his decision on Gen. Kelly as I do all the others he's made. Trump's election was all that was important to me."

Trump's chief of staff, Wisconsinite Reince Priebus, said this week in an interview that Clarke is "someone we definitely want to be involved in the administration at some level."

"I think he's going to have opportunities," Priebus told WTMJ-TV (Channel 4) earlier this week. Clarke has said he would take a position in the Trump administration if offered one.

RELATED:Clarke meets with Donald Trump in New York

Kelly, 66, the former head of the U.S. Southern Command, would join retired generals James Mattis (nominated for Defense secretary) and Michael Flynn (national security adviser) as members of Trump's staff or cabinet.

A person familiar with the transition confirmed Kelly's selection, speaking on condition of anonymity because it has not been made official.

During his years in the military, Kelly criticized various Obama administration positions, including security along the U.S.-Mexico border and closing the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. He also raised concerns about maintaining the current standards to serve in combat roles in the military after the administration opened spots in combat units to women.

During his 40-year career in the Marine Corps, Kelly led troops into combat in Iraq; he also lost a son during the war in Afghanistan.

He retired earlier this year.

A massive department created in the wake of 9/11, Homeland Security duties range from counter-terrorism to enforcing immigration laws.

David Jackson, of USA Today, contributed to this report