Some easy….
Some not so smooth….
This has been a usually contentious transition right up until today when Joe Biden became the President and the Boss….
But Biden has sign offed on about 1,000 new hires to replace Trump admin people across the government…Thousands more will be needed to get the government back up to speed after the Trump neglect and political actions….
….Biden officials have conceded that execution of their agenda is likely to be hobbled by the rocky transition, fueled by Trump’s refusal to acknowledge he lost the election. As the new officials started assuming their posts across the government on Wednesday, they were bracing to uncover chaos and problemsconcealed by Trump officials who refused to cooperate with the Biden team.
In particular, there are concerns throughout the national security apparatus, given the acrimonious transition process at the Department of Defense and the National Security Council.
At the Pentagon on Wednesday, outgoing Trump officials were, for the most part, nowhere to be found. The Trump White House liaison team had ordered the political appointees to vacate their offices by Tuesday, as Wednesday was considered a holiday, according to one former senior defense official who departed with the Trump administration.
At the last minute, the Biden team also denied Acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller office space and resources for his transition out of the role, a courtesy typically provided to the outgoing team. The transition elected not to extend Miller that particular “perk” given his acting role and the reduced capacity in the Pentagon due to the pandemic, said one transition official, noting that retired Gen. Lloyd Austin, the nominee to be Defense secretary, has also chosen to do all of his transition planning from home for those reasons….
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At other agencies, some Trump appointees refused Biden’s requests for their resignations, forcing the president to fire them in order to be able to install his own personnel.
Biden did swear in nearly 1,000 new members of the administration — virtually — from the White House State Dining Room, where he reiterated his commitment to decency, telling the appointees that “we have to restore the soul of this country, and I’m counting on all of you to be part of that.”
Though he did not mention Trump by name, Biden’s message to staff along with his early focus on issues of racism, economic inequality and climate change were clearly meant as a contrast to the turbulence of the Trump White House. Biden added his staff’s loyalties lay with the American people, not him — another contrast with Democrats’ frequent criticism that the former president valued personal loyalty above all else.
“People don’t work for us, we work for the people,” Biden said. “I work for the people. They pay my salary. They pay your salary.”….
More…
Biden signals he will keep FBI Director Wray….