Biden nominees promise fresh security plan
WASHINGTON – President-elect Joe Biden’s nominees to lead his national security team promised a turnabout from the Trump administration’s approach on the world stage, saying Tuesday they would keep partisan politics out of intelligence agencies, restore an emphasis on cooperating with international allies and push for a stronger American leadership role.
Antony Blinken, Biden’s choice to be secretary of state, pledged to repair damage done to the State Department and America’s image abroad over the past four years while continuing a tougher approach to China. He said he planned to restore career officials to prominent positions in the department and strive to promote inclusiveness in the ranks for the diplomatic corps.
“American leadership still matters,” Blinken said in remarks prepared for his confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
“The reality is that the world doesn’t organize itself,” he added. “When we’re not engaged, when we don’t lead, then one of two things happen: either some other country tries to take our place, but probably not in a way that advances our interests or values. Or no one does, and then you get chaos. Either way, that does not serve the American people. Humility and confidence should be the flip sides of America’s leadership coin.”
President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from a number of international agreements, disparaged NATO allies and questioned the need for multinational approaches to trade, security, economic and environmental issues.
Blinken said that Iran and China would be primary focuses.
On Iran, Blinken said he believed that the nuclear deal Trump withdrew from in 2018 should be reinvigorated with an eye toward producing “a longer and stronger agreement.”
“Having said that,” Blinken said, suggesting that Iran would not be an immediate priority, “we’re a long way from that.”
On China, Blinken said the Trump administration was right to take a tougher stance. But Blinken said it had approached the matter poorly by alienating U.S. allies and not standing up for human rights around the world.
“As we look at China, there is no doubt that it poses the greatest threat of any nation state to the United States,” he said.
Biden is pushing for quick Senate confirmation of his nominees to lead the departments of State, Defense and Treasury, as well as Homeland Security and the intelligence community. Most were unlikely to be confirmed before Biden takes the oath of office at noon Wednesday, although protracted delays are not expected.
The most controversial of the group may be Lloyd Austin, the recently retired Army general whom Biden selected to lead the Pentagon. Austin, who served 41 years in uniform, will need not only a favorable confirmation vote in the Senate but also a waiver by the House and the Senate because he has been out of uniform only four years.
House majority leader Rep. Steny Hoyer indicated Tuesday that the full House would consider an Austin waiver bill on Thursday.
Austin was testifying later Tuesday before the Senate Armed Services Committee, but the panel will not be in position to vote until he gets the waiver. Republicans are expected to support the Austin nomination, as are Democrats.
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. Austin is something of an exception in that only twice in history has a recently retired general served as defense secretary.
At her confirmation hearing, Avril Haines, Biden’s nominee to lead the intelligence community, promised to “speak truth to power” and keep politics out of intelligence agencies to ensure their work is trusted. Her remarks implied a departure from the Trump administration’s record of pressuring intelligence officials to shape their analysis to the president’s liking.
“When it comes to intelligence, there is simply no place for politics, ever,” she told the Senate Intelligence Committee.
Haines, a former CIA deputy director and former deputy national security adviser in the Obama administration, would be the first woman to serve as director of national intelligence, or DNI – a role created after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Haines was given a mostly positive reception by committee Republicans and Democrats, suggesting likely confirmation by the full Senate.
Also testifying Tuesday at his confirmation hearing was Alejandro Mayorkas, Biden’s nominee for secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. He would be the first Latino and first immigrant to lead the agency.