Biden names top White House aides, meets national security experts
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US President-elect Joe Biden speaking with former military, diplomatic and intelligence officials to discuss readiness at the relevant agencies during a video meeting in Wilmington, Delaware on Tuesday.
PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
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WILMINGTON • President-elect Joe Biden has named several top advisers from his election campaign and a Democratic congressman as senior White House aides, sticking with a tight inner circle as he transitions to the White House.
Mr Biden has been preparing to take over the presidency on Jan 20, meeting advisers and mapping out his policy plans, despite President Donald Trump's increasingly tenuous effort to reverse the outcome of the Nov 3 election.
Mr Biden's presidential campaign manager Jen O'Malley Dillon, the first woman to lead a winning Democratic presidential bid, will be named a deputy chief of staff, Mr Biden said in a statement released by his transition team.
Long-time close advisers Mike Donilon and Steve Ricchetti will join the White House as senior adviser to the president and counsellor to the president, respectively.
Ms Dana Remus, the campaign's top lawyer, will be counsel to the president. Another close adviser, Mr Ron Klain, was already named chief of staff.
US Representative Cedric Richmond, who was a national co-chair of Mr Biden's campaign and former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, will vacate a House seat in Louisiana to join as a senior adviser and director of the White House Office of Public Engagement.
Mr Biden, who may name more staff soon, could still be weeks away from naming his Cabinet appointees.
The former vice-president met a panel of national security experts virtually on Tuesday, including several advisers under consideration for foreign policy posts, such as former deputy US secretary of state Antony Blinken, former deputy national security adviser Avril Haines and former US ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power.
The virtual meeting, which Mr Biden led from Wilmington, Delaware, was attended by 13 former military, diplomatic and intelligence officials who served during the Obama administration.
"I am unable to get the briefings that ordinarily would come by now.
"So I just wanted to get your input on what you see ahead," Mr Biden told the group.
"To state the obvious, there's no presidential responsibility more important than protecting the American people."
Mr Trump's refusal to concede has stalled the normal transition to a new administration, including funding and office space to ensure a smooth handover.
Mr Biden said he had spoken to 13 foreign heads of state thus far, telling them, "America's back. And it's no longer America alone".
Mr Biden also warned on Monday that stalling the transition much longer would cost lives in the coronavirus pandemic.
REUTERS, NYTIMES
