Biden staff picks signal end to Trump nationalism
National security team marks a return to more traditional approach foreign policy
US President-elect Joe Biden yesterday tapped Obamaera officials for top national security and economic roles, signalling a stark shift from the Trump administration’s “America First” policies that disparaged international alliances, career diplomats and other veteran government officials.
The six picks, including former Secretary of State John Kerry, mark a return to a more traditional approach to America’s relations with the rest of the world and reflect Biden’s campaign promises to have his Cabinet reflect the diversity of America.
In choosing foreign policy veterans, Biden appears to be seeking to upend President Donald Trump’s war on the so-called deep state that saw an exodus of senior and mid-level career officials from government, notably from the ranks of the State Department and National Security Council, including some who were fired for voicing opposition to the President’s moves.
Biden will nominate his longtime adviser Antony Blinken to be secretary of state, lawyer Alejandro Mayorkas to be homeland security secretary and Linda ThomasGreenfield to be ambassador to the United Nations.
Avril Haines, a former deputy director of the CIA, will be nominated as director of national intelligence, the first woman to hold that post. The incoming president will also appoint Jake Sullivan to be his national security adviser and Kerry to be his climate change envoy. Those posts do not require Senate confirmation.
The choices reflect Biden’s emphasis on developing a diverse team with Thomas-greenfield, a black woman, at the helm of the US Mission to the United Nations, and Mayorkas, a Cuban American lawyer who will be the first Latino to lead Homeland Security.
Biden is also expected to nominate Janet Yellen, the former Federal Reserve chairwoman, as treasury secretary, the first womanto hold that post.
They “are experienced, crisistested leaders who are ready to hit the ground running on day one”, the transition 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 making the announcements, Biden moved forward with plans to fill out his administration even as Trump refuses to concede defeat in the November 3 election, has pursued baseless legal challenges in several key states and has worked to stymie the transition process.
The stakes of a smooth transition are especially high this year because Biden will take office amid the worst pandemic in more than a century, which will likely require a full government response to contain.
“If confirmed, this is amission I will take on with my full heart,” said Blinken, who would take over the nation’s oldest Cabinet agency and be fourth in line for the presidency.
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 American diplomacy in a direct shot at Kerry, whom he called the worst secretary of state in US history. Trump has since denied climate change, rolled back environmental protections and Iran is now closer to having a nuclear weapon.
— AP