After weeks of delays and a few legal challenges, President Donald Trump has told his team to clear the way for a transition to begin for a Joe Biden presidency in the US. The General Services Administration(GSA) in light of this, has sent the Biden team a letter with official resources that will facilitate the transition. However, this is not the end of the road for Mr. Trump who says he will continue to “fight.”
Why This Matters For The US
The transition period is important after a US election, as it prepares the incoming president to take over federal administration, receive important security information as well as select members of his cabinet. In addition to this, the transition team examines campaign promises by the president-elect that can be crafted into policies.
What Next for America?
The US President-Elect will begin receiving the President’s Daily Brief from the secret service, the heads of the FBI and armed forces.
He will also be expected to start announcing new members of the White House. Joe Biden, on Tuesday, also formally introduced his new foreign policy and national security team. So far, it is confirmed that Mr Biden will be appointing Anthony Blinken as Secretary of State, Alejandro Mayorkas as Homeland Security Secretary, Avril Haines will be the first female director of national intelligence and John Kerry (former secretary of state) as climate envoy. Dr Anthony Fauci will remain the country’s top infectious disease expert. The FBI will now begin a background check on the nominees.
A priority area for the new administration will be curbing the spread of the coronavirus which has killed over 200,000 Americans. President-Elect Biden is also keen about reversing Trump’s immigration policies.
“In the days ahead, transition officials will begin meeting with federal officials to discuss the pandemic response, have a full accounting of our national security interests, and gain a complete understanding of the Trump administration’s efforts to hollow out government agencies,” transition director, Yohannes Abraham, said in a statement.
