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President-elect Joe Biden accused Trump loyalists at nationwide safety companies of throwing up roadblocks to a easy presidential transition and warned that adversaries might benefit from the scenario with out higher cooperation from the outgoing administration.
“We need to make sure nothing is lost in the hand-off between administrations,” he mentioned after a gathering together with his nationwide safety advisers in addition to the groups accountable for the transition at associated companies. “Right now we just aren’t getting all the information that we need from the outgoing administration in key national security areas. It’s nothing short, in my view, of irresponsibility.”
Biden singled out political appointees on the Defense Department and Office of Management and Budget for “obstruction,” and known as on them to convey him in control on pressure posture and budgeting “in order to avoid any window of confusion or catch-up that our adversaries may try to exploit.”
Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller mentioned the division had responded to 188 requests for info from the Biden workforce with greater than 5,000 pages of managed and labeled info.
In a press release on Monday evening, he mentioned that Defense officers “have been working with the utmost professionalism to support transition activities in a compressed time schedule and they will continue to do so in a transparent and collegial manner that upholds the finest traditions of the department. The American people expect nothing less and that is what I remain committed to,” Miller added.
It wasn’t the primary time Biden has expressed displeasure of the tempo of the transition. But with 23 days till his inauguration, his remarks on Monday displayed a mounting frustration with the outgoing Trump administration.
Biden mentioned a lot work must be completed to re-invest in diplomacy after 4 years of pulling again from worldwide organizations and agreements. President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from the World Health Organization, the Paris Climate accord and the Iran nuclear deal.
Biden needs the U.S. to return to all three.
“Right now we have an enormous vacuum,” the president-elect mentioned. “We’re going to have to regain the trust and confidence of the world that has begun to find ways to work around us, or work without us.”
The new administration can even inherit the response to what’s believed to be a Russian-backed hack of federal authorities laptop methods this month.
Biden mentioned he’s nonetheless studying concerning the extent of that breach, however mentioned it known as for bipartisan cooperation to bolster cyber defenses. “This attack represents a grave risk to our national security, and we need to close the gap between where our capabilities are now and where they need to be,” he mentioned.
After a delay of a number of weeks after the election, Biden has been receiving the presidential day by day briefing — the identical top-secret intelligence report given to Trump — a number of occasions per week since Nov. 30.
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