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President-elect Joe Biden announced a series of high-level White House appointments Tuesday as he continued to prepare for his incoming presidency.
The former US Vice President also spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and President Reuven Rivlin. It comes as President Donald Trump continued to deny the outcome of the November 3 election, which Biden won.
Among those named to Biden’s team are campaign manager Jennifer O’Malley Dillon, who will become a White House deputy chief of staff, and Louisiana Congressman Cedric Richmond, who has been named the president’s senior adviser and director. from the public office of the White House. commitment. Richmond’s exit from the Capitol will open a special election in Louisiana, but his New Orleans seat is in a safe Democratic district and is expected to remain in Democratic hands. Richmond is the highest-ranking African-American to date designated to Biden’s team. Biden’s top campaign advisers, Mike Donilon and Dana Remus, have also joined the team, and Remus becomes the White House attorney.
In announcing the new appointments, Biden said the team reflects its commitment to “build an administration that looks like America.” The announcements follow the appointment of Biden’s long-term aide Ron Klain as White House chief of staff.
‘Big challenges’
“I am proud to announce additional members of my senior team who will help us rebuild better than before,” the president-elect said in a statement. “The United States faces great challenges, bringing diverse perspectives and a shared commitment to address these challenges and emerge a stronger and more united nation on the other side.”
Although the new appointees will be among the top advisers in the west wing, an announcement on cabinet members is not expected until after Thanksgiving (November 26).
Trump, who has not answered questions from the press in more than two weeks, remained in the White House on Tuesday as his campaign team prepared to file another lawsuit in Pennsylvania. So far, none of the Trump campaign lawsuits challenging the election results in various states have been successful.
Senator Lindsey Graham, who won re-election to his Senate seat from South Carolina this month, confirmed that he had spoken with elections officials in Nevada and Arizona, a day after the Georgia secretary of state said the senator said so. had lobbied for him to exclude legal votes from being counted. Mr. Graham dismissed those allegations as “ridiculous” on Tuesday, although he confirmed that he had contacted officials in Arizona and Nevada to verify mail-in ballots. Georgia is expected to complete its recount later this week, while the Trump campaign faces a Wednesday night deadline before which they must request a recount in Wisconsin.
Social media
As the aftermath of the US election continued, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter founder Jack Dorsey appeared before the Senate judicial committee on Tuesday amid criticism of the role played by social media platforms. social media in the run-up to the elections. Republicans questioned both technology chiefs about their measures to limit the distribution of a New York Post article about Hunter Biden’s laptop, which was damaging to the former vice president in the final weeks of the election campaign.
Meanwhile, Senator Chuck Grassley announced that he would be quarantined after exposure to the coronavirus. The 87-year-old senator said he was showing no symptoms.
His possible exposure comes after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was forced to cancel a dinner for incoming members at the US Capitol following social media protests over the decision to hold the meeting amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Covid infection rates in the United States continue to rise, with 11.2 million cases and more than 247,000 deaths recorded.
Several states that previously resisted imposing a mask mandate have changed course in recent days. In Iowa, Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds announced the order when the number of hospitalized patients in the state hit a new record Monday. Similarly, in Utah, Republican Gov. Gary Herbert has also issued a mask mandate “until further notice.”
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