Biden wants to make Klain chief of staff of longtime confidant

As Donald Trump clings to power, newly elected President Biden announces to the first members of his administration: Ron Klain will be the chief of staff. He is a sharp critic of Trump’s crown course.

Despite opposition from incumbent Donald Trump, US President-elect Joe Biden is pushing the composition of his government team. Biden’s longtime confidant, Ronald Klain, will become the White House Chief of Staff, and thus one of his most important political advisers, as Biden’s transition team announced Wednesday night (local time ). In the evening, Biden also held talks with the heads of state and government of Japan, Australia and South Korea, who congratulated him on his electoral victory.

The Democrat was declared the winner of the presidential elections this Saturday based on polls and forecasts by the US media. Trump has so far refused to admit defeat. He presents himself as the victim of systematic voter fraud, without providing solid evidence, and is suing in several states in the United States, although his Republicans have achieved significant successes at the Senate and House levels.

Biden and Klain previously worked together in the White House when Biden was vice president of Barack Obama: Klain, now 59, was Biden’s Chief of Staff from 2009 to 2011. He also worked for the Democrat when he sat in the United States Senate United and when Biden ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1988 and 2008.

“Ron has been invaluable to me during the many years that we have worked together,” Biden said. “His deep and diverse experience and ability to work with people from across the political spectrum is exactly what I need from a Chief of Staff in the White House as we face this time of crisis and unite the country.” Unlike ministers, for example, the chief of staff does not have to be confirmed by the Senate.

Obama appointed Klain as the coordinator of the US government’s action on the Ebola epidemic in 2014. During the corona pandemic, Klain stood out as a critic of Trump’s crisis management. A video explaining what a Biden government would have done differently during the pandemic and what it wants to do in the future drew a lot of attention. Biden has vowed to make fighting the coronavirus pandemic a priority.

Praise the personality of the Democrats

The staff was received positively in the ranks of the Democrats. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a congresswoman who is considered the leading figure on the left wing of the Democrats, wrote on Twitter: “Good news and a promising election.” Senator Elizabeth Warren wrote that the entire party trusted Klain. He understood the scope of the pandemic and the economic crisis and had the experience necessary to lead the future government through these crises.

The chief of staff holds the highest unelected position in the United States government. It is part of the cabinet but, unlike a minister, it does not need to be confirmed by the Senate. The Chief of Staff supports the president in his daily work: he controls who has access to the president, manages his appointment calendar and regulates the flow of information. Negotiations with Congress are also within its competence. Trump has changed chief of staff several times: Mark Meadows is the fourth in the office.

Meanwhile, left-wing senator Bernie Sanders positioned himself for the Department of Labor. “If I had a department that allowed me to defend working-class families and fight, would I do it? Yes, I would,” Sanders told CNN on Wednesday (local time) when asked if he was going to accept the ministerial position. of work if there was an offer. The 79-year-old had run as Biden for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Trump continues to oppose election results

Meanwhile, there are still no signs that Trump will admit defeat. In several tweets on Wednesday, he made it clear that he continues to view himself as the rightful winner of the election. For example, Trump claimed that election observers were not allowed in his service in Pennsylvania and Michigan and that this resulted in the counting of hundreds of thousands of votes that should not have been counted. There is no evidence of Trump’s claims. Twitter provided the message with a warning.

Newly elected presidents use the two and a half months between the election and inauguration to assemble their government team. It is not just about the cabinet, the secretaries of state and the heads of authorities, but also filling thousands of positions in the White House, in the ministries and in the authorities. About 1,200 of the personal data must be approved by the Senate. The Trump administration has refused to provide Biden with legally required assistance to prepare for his presidency.

The US media reported that Biden’s transition team believes that legal action is a way to break the lockdown. There are other options as well, he said without elaborating. Biden was stressed and relaxed on Tuesday: There is nothing currently holding his team back, he said. At the moment, he also does not see the need for legal action.

The count continues: Biden ahead with more than 5 million votes

Even more than a week after the elections, there is still movement in the vote count, which has not yet been completed. According to preliminary results (at 3:30 a.m. CET), Biden was elected by more than 77.4 million Americans and thus received about 5.2 million more votes than the current Trump.

Due to the extremely close race in Georgia, the state has all the votes cast in the elections again counted by hand. Secretary of State in charge, Brad Raffensperger, said he hoped the tally would confirm the current result. Biden is ahead of Trump there, but the result in Georgia alone is not decisive for his electoral victory.

Certified final election results from all states should not be available until December 8, just under a week before the electorate cast their votes for the next president. The result of the vote will be announced in Congress on January 6, only then will there be absolute legal certainty.