On Monday, the Joe Biden/Kamala Harris presidential transition team announced its national security and foreign policy teams.
Biden is expected to announce his nomination for Alejandro Mayorkas to be his Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security on Tuesday at an event in Wilimington, Delaware. He previously served as the Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security from 2013 to 2016 as part of the Obama administration.
His transition office has also revealed, as the New York Times reports, that John Kerry, who served as the 68th Secretary of State from 2013-17, will be named as a special presidential envoy for climate. Other nominees and apointees include Antony Blinken for Secretary of State, Avril Haines for Director of National Intelligence, Linda Thomas-Greenfield as the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, and Jake Sullivan as National Security Advisor.
The news means Biden will be nominating the first woman to lead intelligence, and the first Latinx to run Homeland Security in American history.
"We have no time to lose when it comes to our national security and foreign policy," Biden said in a statement. "I need a team ready on Day 1 to help me reclaim America’s seat at the head of the table, rally the world to meet the biggest challenges we face, and advance our security, prosperity, and values. This is the crux of that team."
Biden has announced his team as Donald Trump continues to refuse to concede the election or assist the 46th president's transition team, calling for recounts and repeating widely debunked claims of voter fraud. As recently as Sunday evening, Trump tweeted he and his team "will win" despite having already lost both the popular vote and the electoral college earlier this month.
