The upcoming administration of President-elect Joe Biden will have many firsts. Besides first woman Vice President, he has nominated first woman to oversee the Treasury Department and the first woman to lead the intelligence community. His administration will also have the first Latino and immigrant to run the Department of Homeland Security.
Here is the key upcoming Biden administration nominations and appointments:
Kamala Harris: Vice President (First woman in position)
Ron Klain: White House chief of staff
Antony Blinken: Secretary of State
Alejandro Mayorkas: Secretary of Homeland Security (First Latino and immigrant in position)
Linda Thomas-Greenfield: US Ambassador to the UN
Jake Sullivan: National Security Advisor
Avril Haines: Director of National Intelligence (First woman in position)
John Kerry: Special Presidential Envoy for Climate
Janet Yellen: Treasury Secretary (First woman in position)
President Donald Trump has virtually conceded defeat to Joe Biden, agreeing to begin the transition to the new administration while also claiming that he will be the ultimate winner of the November 3 election.
In a tweet on Monday evening (EST), Trump said that he was asking General Services Administration head Emily Murphy to cooperate with Biden to facilitate his transition to become the 46th President of the United States.
The announcement two weeks after the media called the election for Biden, while Trump has refused to concede citing aleged voter fraud and litigation in several swing states.
In her letter offering to work with Biden, Murphy denied that she made the decision to cooperate at the behest of Trump.
"I came to my decision independently, based on the law and available facts. I was never directly or indirectly pressured by any Executive Branch official -- including those who work at the White House or GSA -- with regard to the substance or timing of my decision. To be clear, I did not receive any direction to delay my determination," she wrote.
Biden transition's Executive Director Yohannes Abraham welcomed the announcement calling it "a needed step to begin tackling the challenges facing our nation, including getting the pandemic under control and our economy back on track."
Trump made the announcement that he will cooperate with the transition hours after Biden announced several key foreign affairs and national security designations, including Antony Blinken as secretary of state.