BOSTON (CBS) – President Obama has picked Sen. John Kerry as the next secretary of state, according to a report in the Chicago Sun-Times.

Sun-Times columnist Michael Sneed reports New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez will replace Kerry as chairman of the senate foreign relations committee.

Sen. Kerry became the presumed frontrunner for the position after U.N. ambassador Susan Rice officially withdrew her name from consideration.

Rice had been considered a top contender for the position before finding herself at the center of a controversy surrounding her account of the attack on the American Embassy in Libya.

If Kerry is confirmed, a special election will be held in Massachusetts to replace him in the senate.