US president-elect Joe Biden is set to formally introduce his national security team to the nation, building out a team of alumni of the administration of former US president Barack Obama that signals his shift away from US President Donald Trump’s “America First” policies and a return to US engagement on the global stage.
The picks for national security and foreign policy posts include former US secretary of state John Kerry to take the lead on combating climate change.
Kerry and several other people set to join the upcoming administration were to be discussed by Biden and US vice president-elect Kamala Harris at an event yesterday afternoon.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Outside the realm of national security and foreign policy, Biden is expected to choose Janet Yellen as the first female US secretary of the treasury.
She was nominated by Obama to lead the US Federal Reserve, the first female in that position, and served from 2014 to 2018.
Biden’s emerging Cabinet marks a return to a more traditional approach to governing, relying on veteran policymakers with deep expertise, and strong relationships in Washington and global capitals, and with a roster that includes several women and ethnic minorities — some of whom are breaking historic barriers in their posts — Biden is fulfilling his campaign promise to lead a team that reflects the diversity of the nation.
Biden is to nominate longtime adviser Antony Blinken to be US secretary of state; lawyer Alejandro Mayorkas to be US secretary of homeland security; Linda Thomas-Greenfield to be US ambassador to the UN; and Jake Sullivan as national security adviser.
Avril Haines, a former deputy director of the CIA, is to be nominated as US director of national intelligence, the first female to hold that post.
Thomas-Greenfield is black and Mayorkas is Cuban American.
Those being introduced “are experienced, crisis-tested leaders who are ready to hit the ground running on day one,” the transition team said in a statement. “These officials will start working immediately to rebuild our institutions, renew and reimagine American leadership to keep Americans safe at home and abroad, and address the defining challenges of our time — from infectious disease, to terrorism, nuclear proliferation, cyber threats, and climate change.”
In the weeks ahead, Biden could also name Michele Flournoy as the first female to lead the US department of defense.
Pete Buttigieg, a former Indiana mayor and presidential candidate, has also been mentioned as a contender for a Cabinet agency.
In making the choices public on Monday, Biden moved forward with plans to fill out his administration even as Trump refused to concede defeat in the Nov. 3 election, has pursued baseless legal challenges in several key states and worked to stymie the transition process.
Trump later on Monday said that he was directing his team to cooperate on the transition, but vowed to keep up the fight. His comment came after the US General Services Administration ascertained that Biden was the apparent winner of the election, clearing the way for the start of the transition from Trump’s administration and allowing Biden to coordinate with federal agencies on plans for taking over on Jan. 20.
Biden’s nominations were generally met with silence on Capitol Hill, where the US Senate’s balance of power hinges on two runoff races that are to be decided in January.
The best known of the bunch is Kerry, who made climate change one of his top priorities while serving as Obama’s secretary of state, during which he also negotiated the Iran nuclear deal and the Paris climate accord.
Trump withdrew from both agreements, which he said represented a failure of US diplomacy in a direct shot at Kerry, whom he called the worst secretary of state in US history.
“America will soon have a government that treats the climate crisis as the urgent national security threat it is,” Kerry said. “I’m proud to partner with the president-elect, our allies and the young leaders of the climate movement to take on this crisis as the president’s climate envoy.”
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