WTF Just Happened Today

Tuesday, November 24, 2020

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1/ Biden introduced six of his top foreign policy and national security appointments and nominees, saying “the team meets this moment.” The announcement comes a day after the Trump administration ended its 16-day stalemate and said it would to begin cooperating with the incoming administration. “It’s a team that reflects the fact that America is back,” Biden said. “Ready to lead the world, not retreat from it.” Biden added that his nominees bring “experience and leadership, fresh thinking and perspective, and an unrelenting belief in the promise of America.” Hours after the General Services Administration authorized the Biden transition, Trump tweeted his insistence that he had won the election and that he will “never concede.” (New York Times / CNN / NPR / ABC News / Bloomberg / CNBC / Washington Post / Wall Street Journal)

• The White House signed off on Biden receiving the President’s Daily Brief. (CNN)

• Trump-Biden Transition Live Blogs: New York Times / Washington Post / The Guardian / NPR / ABC News / CNN

• ???? Day 1404: Biden named a number of high-level administration and Cabinet positions for his foreign policy and national security team, tapping Linda Thomas-Greenfield as the ambassador to the United Nations, Alejandro Mayorkas as homeland security secretary, and Avril Haines as director of national intelligence. Mayorkas would be the first Latino to run the department responsible for managing the nation’s immigration policies. Haines would be the highest-ranking woman to serve in the intelligence community. Biden also named his longtime adviser Antony Blinken as secretary of state, John Kerry as his climate czar, and Jake Sullivan as his national security adviser. Biden also plans to nominate Janet Yellen as treasury secretary. (Bloomberg /