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US President-elect Joe Biden introduced several of his national security candidates on Tuesday, marking a shift in President Donald Trump’s “America First” foreign policy by saying his elections “embody my beliefs. fundamentals that the United States is stronger when it works with its allies. “
Biden officially unveiled his national security team on Tuesday, including his nominees for secretary of state and secretary of homeland security, touting not only his expertise, but also his diversity. Her list includes various women and people of color, some of whom are breaking historical barriers in their posts.
“[W]While this team has unrivaled experience and accomplishments, they also reflect the idea that we cannot meet these challenges with old thoughts and unaltered habits, ”said Biden. “For example, we are going to have the first woman to lead the intelligence community, the first Latina and immigrant to lead the Department of Homeland Security, and a pioneering diplomat at the United Nations.”
Vice President Elect Kamala Harris added: “When Joe asked me to be his running mate, he told me about his commitment to making sure we select a cabinet that looks like America and reflects the best of our nation, and that’s what we have done . “
President-elect Joe Biden supports his nominees for his national security team, a diverse and experienced roster of selections. [Joshua Roberts/Reuters]
Biden’s emerging cabinet marks a return to a more traditional approach to governance, relying on veteran lawmakers with extensive experience and strong relationships in Washington, DC, and global capitals.
“It’s a team that reflects the fact that America is back, ready to lead the world, not to retire,” Biden said.
Appointed former adviser Antony Blinken as secretary of state; the lawyer Alejandro Mayorkas, who is Latino, to be Secretary of National Security; Linda Thomas-Greenfield, a black woman, to be the United States Ambassador to the United Nations; and Jake Sullivan as National Security Advisor. Avril Haines, former deputy director of the CIA, has been named director of national intelligence, the first woman to hold that position. And former Secretary of State John Kerry is being appointed to a new cabinet-level position as Biden’s climate change envoy.
The best known is Kerry, who made climate change one of his priorities while serving as Secretary of State to Barack Obama, 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 criticism of Kerry, whom he called the worst secretary of state in US history.
Blinken, 58, served as undersecretary of state and deputy national security adviser during the Obama administration.
He served on the National Security Council during Bill Clinton’s presidency before becoming a staff director for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee when Biden was chairman of the panel. In the early years of the Obama administration, Blinken returned to the council and was Biden’s national security adviser when Biden was vice president, then moved to the State Department to serve as Kerry’s deputy.
“America, at its best, still has a greater ability than any other country on Earth to unite others to meet the challenges of our time,” Blinken said Tuesday. “And that’s where the men and women of the State Department come in, the Foreign Service officials, the civil service, that’s where they come in. I witnessed his passion, his energy, his courage up close. I see what they do to keep us safe, to make us more prosperous. “
Blinken’s comments come after a tumultuous stretch for the State Department and career diplomats under Trump. The department has seen a significant number of departures from its ranks in recent years, as many diplomats have chosen to retire or leave the foreign service, given limited prospects for promotion under an administration that they believed did not value their expertise.
In announcing his options, Biden has moved forward with plans to complete his administration even as Trump refuses to admit defeat in the Nov.3 election, has pursued unfounded legal challenges in several key states, and has worked to hamper the transition.
However, Trump said Monday that he was leading his team to cooperate in the transition while vowing to keep the fight going. His comment came after the General Services Administration determined that Biden was the apparent winner of the election, clearing the way for the start of the transition from the Trump administration and allowing Biden to coordinate with federal agencies on the plans. to take office on January 20.
More announcements to come
In the coming weeks, Biden could also name Michele Flournoy as the first woman to lead the US Department of Defense. Pete Buttigieg, a former mayor of Indiana and a former presidential candidate, has also been mentioned as a candidate for a position in the Cabinet.
Outside of the realm of national security and foreign policy, Biden is expected to choose Janet Yellen as the first woman to become Secretary of the Treasury, the Wall Street Journal and The Associated Press reported. She was nominated by President Barack Obama to head the Federal Reserve, the first woman in that position, and she served from 2014 to 2018.
All of Biden’s cabinet elections must be confirmed by the United States Senate, which could be under Republican control if that party’s candidates can win one of two runoff elections in Georgia on January 5.
Of Tuesday’s crop of picks, Mayorkas could represent the toughest confirmation challenge for Biden.
The Senate previously confirmed Mayorkas in December 2013 via a party line vote to be the undersecretary of national security. The Senate was then controlled by Democrats, and all Senate Republicans voted against Mayorkas’ confirmation, mainly because he was being investigated by the Obama-appointed inspector general in that department. At the time, the Senate historian’s office said it was unprecedented for the Senate to vote for a candidate who was under investigation.
Inspector General John Roth discovered in March 2015 that Mayorkas, as director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, appeared to give special treatment to certain individuals as part of the visa program that gives residence preference to immigrants who agree to invest in the country. American economy.
Meanwhile, Republican Sen. Marco Rubio, who is on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that will consider Blinken’s nomination, dismissed the first picks as uninspiring.
“Biden’s cabinet picks went to Ivy League schools, have strong resumes, attend all the right conferences, and will be polite and orderly caretakers of America’s decline,” Rubio tweeted.
Biden’s cabinet picks went to Ivy League schools, have strong resumes, attend all the right conferences, and will be polite and orderly caretakers of America’s decline.
I support American greatness
And I have no interest in returning to the “normalcy” that left us dependent on China.
– Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) November 24, 2020
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