Janet Yellen, former chairman of the Federal Reserve, will be the first woman to head the US Treasury. Also confirmed the rumors about Anthony Blinken, who will cover the role of secretary of state, with the task of rebuilding Washington's international relations. And just a former head of US diplomacy, John Kerry, will be the special envoy on climate. As for the seat of national security adviser, it will go to Jake Sullivan, while Linda Thomas Greenfield will be ambassador to the United Nations e Alexander Mayorkas will become the first Latinos at the helm of the Ministry of the Interior, which deals - among other things - with immigration. These are the names with which John Biden, president-elect of the United States, completed his government team.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump has initiated the transition of powers, ordering his aides and the Geneal Service Administration (an independent agency of the US government that helps manage and support the basic functioning of federal agencies) to begin following official protocol. In this way, Biden can finally count on federal resources and his advisers can coordinate with those of the outgoing President.
The latest push came from Michigan, which tonight certified Biden's victory. But in the last few hours they had also intensified pressure from the Republican Party to convince Trump to hand over powers, albeit belatedly. Biden has repeatedly stressed that this delay was jeopardizing national security, also preventing the new administration from planning the fight against the pandemic.
Ultimately, then, the White House has to admit defeat, but it does it its way. “Initiating the transition is not about conceding victory, or stopping our legal action against what will turn out to be the most corrupt election in American history”, Trump wrote on Twitter, where he also denounces alleged threats against Emily Murphy, head of the Geneal Service Administration.
