World News – USA – Joe Biden picks first women and first Latino for key cabinet roles

Joe Biden, the U.S. President-elect, has shown his determination to expedite Donald Trump’s fierce attempts to block the transition by appointing leaders to his foreign and national security team.

The President-elect trusted the experience on Monday by announcing Tony Blinken as Secretary of State, Jake Sullivan as National Security Advisor and John Kerry as « Climate Bazaar, » each signaling a return to the multilateralism of the Obama era.

Biden also selected Alejandro Mayorkas, who, if confirmed, would be the first Latino and migrant to become Secretary of Homeland Security. Avril Haines as director of the National Intelligence Service, who would be the first woman in this role; and Linda Thomas-Greenfield as Ambassador to the United Nations.

« These people are as experienced and crisis-tested as they are innovative and resourceful, » said Biden. “Your diplomatic achievements are unsurpassed, but they also reflect the idea that we cannot meet the profound challenges of this new moment with old thinking and unchanged habits – or without different backgrounds and perspectives. ”

Biden was to make Janet Yellen – the first woman to chair the US Federal Reserve – the country’s first female Treasury Secretary. The 74-year-old economist is expected to be named as Biden’s election on Tuesday.

In making decisions, Biden wanted to send a clear message to a global audience that the campaigns were over and that he would be on Nov.. January will take office. Trump has refused to admit defeat, spread false claims of electoral fraud, and suffered legal humiliation in what critics call an unsuccessfully executed coup attempt.

The move also reflected Biden’s commitment to diversity and the selection of professionals from the foreign policy establishment vis-à-vis executives and politicians, a hallmark of the Trump administration.

Blinken was Biden’s National Security Advisor when Biden was Vice President and then Deputy Secretary of State under Barack Obama for two years. Sullivan was an advisor to Hillary Clinton, participated in talks with Iran prior to the 2015 nuclear deal, and succeeded Blinken as Biden’s national security advisor.

Kerry, named the President’s Special Envoy on Climate, is a former Senator and Democratic presidential candidate who was Obama’s second foreign secretary and a key architect of the Paris Climate Agreement, which the US denounced under Trump.

He tweeted, « America will soon have a government that views the climate crisis as an urgent national security threat. I am proud to work with the President-elect, our allies and the young leaders of the climate movement to address this crisis as the President’s Climate Commissioner. ”

Thomas-Greenfield comes from the diplomatic corps. Her career dates back to the Reagan administration. She was Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs under Obama, but the oldest black US diplomat was fired by Trump.

Obama praised blinking at the Washington Post event to promote his new memoir.

« He’s brilliant – smart, kind, a seasoned diplomat who is valued the world over, and I know he’ll do a great job, » Obama said. « You see a team developing that I trust very much. ”

But the former president acknowledged that Trump’s foreign policy approach will take time to fix.

« I think it will be important to recognize that the trust our allies and the world have in American leadership will not be restored overnight.

“You will be very relieved and delighted to see people like Tony at various conferences around the world and to return to the traditional leadership role that the US has played. But there will be a lingering feeling that America is still divided, some of the gimmicks going on right now around the election that is making the world question how reliable and stable the US can be. ”

Obama added, « Some damage has been done that will take time to complete, but there is no doubt Joe has the right people for it and I am confident that they can do it. ». It just might not happen right away. ”

After numerous defeats in court, Trump blocks the transition and denies Biden access to funding and secret briefings while pressuring Republican allies in battlefield states to undermine the will of the people.

A group of Republicans in Pennsylvania filed an urgency lawsuit to block the state from certifying results that Biden with more than 80. Won 000 votes. Monday was the Pennsylvania county certification deadline. Michigan should do the same.

Trump’s legal efforts are in disarray and verge on farce. Over the weekend, attorney Sidney Powell disapproved of the campaign after making unchecked allegations of widespread electoral fraud and engaging Republicans with no evidence.

Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s attorney, who spoke to Powell at a disastrous press conference last week, said in a statement: “Sidney Powell is a self-employed attorney. She is not a member of the Trump legal team. Nor is she an advocate for the President in his personal capacity. ”

Chris Christie, an ally of Trump and former New Jersey governor, told ABC: « Frankly, the behavior of the president’s legal team was a national embarrassment. ”

After a long silence, prominent Republicans are trying to convince Trump that it is time to accept the inevitable. Senators Lamar Alexander from Tennessee, Pat Toomey from Pennsylvania, Susan Collins from Maine, Lisa Murkowski from Alaska, Kevin Cramer from North Dakota, Ben Sasse from Nebraska, and Mitt Romney from Utah said it was at least time to work together on a transition.

Larry Hogan, governor of Maryland and longtime Trump critic, said: « Now we look like we are a banana republic. It’s time for you to stop the nonsense. It’s getting more bizarre day by day and frankly I am embarrassed that more people in the group are not talking. ”

In an open letter, more than 100 Republican national security experts pressured Congress Republicans to demand Trump’s concession and begin the transition.

« President Trump’s refusal to allow the president to transition poses a significant risk to our national security, » they said, « at a time when the US is facing a global pandemic and serious global threats Opponents, terrorist groups and other forces are exposed. ”

Joe Biden, Antony Blinken, US Secretary of State John Kerry, Donald Trump