President-elect Joe Biden will introduce key members of his Cabinet and national security team during an event in Wilmington, Delaware, Tuesday afternoon.
Those picks include Antony Blinken as secretary of state, Alejandro Mayorkas as secretary of Homeland Security, Avril Haines as director of national intelligence, Linda Thomas-Greenfield as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Jake Sullivan as national security adviser and John Kerry as Biden’s special envoy for climate.
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Mayorkas is the first Latino and the first immigrant picked to head Homeland Security, and Kerry’s selection marks the first time that the National Security Council will include an official dedicated to climate change.
On Monday, a Biden transition official told NBC News Biden will be joined by these individuals at the announcement, which they stressed will follow coronavirus safety protocols.
The event is Biden’s first public appearance since the head of the General Services Administration on Monday informed the president-elect that the official government transition process has been approved.
After weeks of delay, GSA Administrator Emily Murphy wrote in a letter that Biden, whom she referred to as “the apparent president-elect,” is now able to access to millions of federal dollars and other government resources to begin his transition to power.
President Donald Trump said he is still fighting the election results, later posting a baseless conspiracy about voting machines, but said he recommended that Murphy “do what needs to be done with regard to initial protocols, and have told my team to do the same.”
In other transition news:
- Biden is expected to nominate Janet Yellen, former chair of the Federal Reserve, as his treasury secretary.
- First Latino tapped to head DHS signals shift from Trump’s hard-line immigration policies.
- Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said the GSA letter is “probably the closest thing to a concession that President Trump could issue.”
- Legal experts called the effort from Trump and his lead attorney, Rudy Giuliani, to overturn the election results “beyond an embarrassment.”
- Michigan election board votes to certify Biden win, dealing blow to Trump effort.
- Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., says she’s stepping down as top Democrat on Senate Judiciary Committee.
