Category: Joe Biden

Ivanka Will Attend Biden Inaugural In Bid To ’Save Her Political Career’

The Internet is unleashing mockery after Ivanka Trump let it be known she plans to attend the presidential inauguration of Joe Biden. At any other point in U.S. history it would not even have been news, but rather, an assumption and expectation that the First Daughter and advisor to the outgoing president would attend the event, but these are strange times.

The eldest Trump daughter isn’t planning on attending for patriotic reasons, nor for a chance to witness history first hand, nor to support the incoming administration.

Ivanka is worried that her promising political career is in jeopardy and she’s doing whatever she can to save her reputation,” according to the Daily Mail, citing a White House insider who says, “Ivanka is convinced that by attending Biden’s inauguration she will come across as a good sport and will gain future supporters.” Continue reading.

On its way out the door, Trump administration names Cuba a state sponsor of terrorism

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The Trump administration added Cuba to a list of state sponsors of terrorism Monday, reversing a signature policy move of the Obama administration and potentially hampering President-elect Joe Biden’s ability to quickly broker a rapprochement with Havana.

“With this action, we will once again hold Cuba’s government accountable and send a clear message: the Castro regime must end its support for international terrorism and subversion of U.S. justice,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement.

A U.S. economic embargo of Cuba already curbs Americans’ ability to do business with or visit the communist island. But the new terrorism label could hinder commercial deals with third countries Cuba relies on to import essential goods and turn off foreign investors in its all-important tourism industry. Continue reading.

Biden announces veteran diplomat William Burns as nominee for CIA director

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President-elect Joe Biden early Monday announced former Deputy Secretary of State William Burns as his nominee for director of the Central Intelligence Agency.

Burns is a former career diplomat with more than three decades of experience in the Foreign Service. He retired in 2014 and currently serves as president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He has served in various national security roles across both Democratic and Republican administrations.

Burns was U.S. ambassador to Russia between 2005 and 2008 and was U.S. ambassador to Jordan from 1998 to 2001. Continue reading.

D.C. lockdown for inauguration to start Wednesday

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In an escalation of inauguration security following the Capitol riot, federal authorities plan to lock down a massive swath of downtown Washington on Wednesday, six days earlier than originally planned.

Why it matters: The earlier shutdown is based on warnings about pre-inauguration demonstrations planned for this weekend in capitals throughout the country, as well as tighter security after the Capitol siege. 

  • The Department of Homeland Security announced that the window for the National Special Security Event, which will involve tens of thousands of National Guard troops and federal law enforcement personnel, will begin Jan. 13, rather than the previously scheduled Jan, 19, the day before the inauguration. Continue reading.

Trump will skip Biden inauguration

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President Trump tweeted on Friday that he will not be attending President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration on Jan. 20.

Why it matters: It’s a break from tradition that comes as Trump faces massive backlash over the storming of the U.S. Capitol by a mob of his supporters.

The big picture: Trump released a video Thursday night acknowledging that a “new administration will be inaugurated on Jan. 20,” and stating that he will focus on a “seamless transition of power” — one day after his continued and baseless claims of a “rigged” election led to the violent insurrection at the Capitol. Continue reading.

Biden’s NSC to focus on global health, climate, cyber and human rights, as well as China and Russia

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The incoming Biden administration plans to restructure and expand the operations of the White House National Security Council, establishing new senior positions on global health, democracy and human rights, and cyber and emerging technology, signaling a sweeping shift in priorities, according to a senior adviser to the Biden transition.

Russia, which the Trump administration had subsumed into the NSC directorate for European affairs, will again be given its own NSC senior director, the adviser said, speaking on the condition of anonymity before the plans and positions were announced Friday.

“We expect to be taking a stronger position on China than has been the case in past Democratic administrations,” with significant new staff positions to handle “a much more assertive China abroad and a much more repressive China” at home, the adviser said. Continue reading.

Biden denounces racial inequities in blasting Capitol riot

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President-elect Joe Biden on Thursday denounced what he described as an unequal justice system reflected in the lenient response to the mostly White rioters who assaulted the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, suggesting a stark contrast with the treatment of racial justice demonstrators across the country last summer.

“You can’t tell me that if it had been a group of Black Lives Matter protesters yesterday they wouldn’t have been treated very differently than the mob of thugs that stormed the Capitol,” Biden said in Wilmington, before beginning to hammer his fist against the lectern. “We all know that is true. And it is totally unacceptable. Totally unacceptable. The American people saw it in plain view.”

In some of his most pointed remarks to date on racial inequity, a topic he sometimes struggles to discuss despite his support from many Black voters, Biden pledged that the disparities would be addressed as he announced his Justice Department leadership team, including federal appeals court judge Merrick Garland as attorney general. Continue reading.

Thousands of guardsmen to stay in D.C. through Biden inauguration

The full force will arrive in Washington by Sunday

Thousands of National Guard troops will be deployed to Washington, D.C., for the next 30 days, through the coming inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden, following a riot at the Capitol Wednesday that left four dead and dozens injured. 

Some 6,200 Guard troops from units in D.C., Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey will be deployed to secure the Capitol. The full force will arrive in Washington by Sunday. 

The deployment follows Wednesday’s rioting by a pro-Trump mob that breached the Capitol and stormed the building, forcing lawmakers, staff and journalists to take cover and prompting the evacuation of congressional leaders and Vice President Mike Pence.  Continue reading.

‘People Are Just Trying to Land the Airplane.’ White House Staff Packs Up as Trump Rages On

As President Donald Trump pushes the limits of his power in a last ditch attempt to overturn the election results, the reality that Trump is leaving the White House on Jan. 20 has already sunk in for many White House officials. Many still working directly under Trump every day are trying to keep their heads down during the President’s antidemocratic antics, finish their jobs, pack up their desks and go home. “People are just trying to land the airplane,” says one White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity. “A lot of people don’t want to be here. It’s just that you can’t abandon ship when the ship isn’t Trump — it’s the country.”

White House officials are scrambling to finish up long-standing policy changes and implement parts of the latest pandemic relief package and new medical regulations, and follow through with parts of the new defense authorization bill that need to be put in place before Trump’s term ends. Officials from the transition team of President-Elect Joe Biden have been working in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building next to the West Wing to prepare to take over in two weeks. But staff are finding it increasingly difficult to get Trump’s attention as he remains fixated on reversing his election loss and pressuring Vice President Mike Pence to overreach his power during Senate electoral college vote count Wednesday. “He is still consumed with all this kind of stuff, the election, and all that kind of thing,” the official says.

Trump is still signing off on urgent decisions, such as an order over the weekend to turn around the homebound aircraft carrier USS Nimitz and keep it in the Middle East in response to what the Pentagon said were Iranian threats against Trump. On Tuesday, Trump approved a ban on the use of several online payment applications run by Chinese companies over concerns the Chinese government was using the apps to collect valuable economic and national security data on American citizens. But Trump’s public comments and tweets have been focused on overturning the election results, not his final policy goals. “Whenever he speaks publicly it’s about the election,” the official says. “It’s a terrible moment right now.” Continue reading.

Operation Warp Speed leader to stay on during Biden administration

Moncef Slaoui had told POLITICO in November that he was planning to step down by early this year.

Operation Warp Speed chief scientific adviser Moncef Slaoui said he plans to continue working on the government’s vaccine accelerator during the Biden administration, reversing earlier plans to step down soon.

Slaoui said the Biden team asked him to remain on as a consultant and he accepted. However, Slaoui didn’t say how long he would stay and indicated that his role could shrink in the coming weeks.

“I have decided to extend that in order to ensure that the operation continues to perform the way it has performed through the transition of administration,” Slaoui said during an Operation Warp Speed press briefing Wednesday. Continue reading.