UPDATE: Biden picks Minneapolis Southwest High School grad Jake Sullivan as National Security Advisor
President-elect Joe Biden, accompanied by Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, speaks at The Queen theater, Thursday, Nov. 19, 2020, in Wilmington, Del.[AP/ Andrew Harnik]
2:50 p.m.
According to AP sources, Biden taps ex-Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen as treasury secretary; she’d be 1st woman to lead department
12:20 p.m.
Joe Biden is filling out his administration with key picks for his national security and foreign policy teams.
John Kerry will lead the incoming administration’s effort to combat climate change.
Alejandro Mayorkas will be nominated as the secretary for the department of homeland security.
Biden also plans to nominate Antony Blinken as his secretary of state.
Kerry is a former secretary of state, senator from Massachusetts and Democratic presidential nominee.
Biden also selected Minneapolis Southwest High School graduate Jake Sullivan as his National Security Advisor.
Sullivan, who at 43 will be one of the youngest national security advisers in history, was a top aide to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton before becoming then-Vice President Biden’s national security adviser. He said the president-elect had “taught me what it takes to safeguard our national security at the highest levels of our government.”
“Now, he has asked me to serve as his national security adviser,” Sullivan said. “In service, I will do everything in my power to keep our country safe.”
Congratulations to my friend, former Klobuchar staffer and fellow Minnesotan Jake Sullivan!
— Amy Klobuchar (@amyklobuchar) November 23, 2020
I think back to this photo we took at your wedding with your wonderful wife Maggie, and I couldn’t be more proud. America is lucky to have you as our future National Security Advisor. pic.twitter.com/lGDeFur0Su
11:35 a.m.
President-elect Joe Biden has named two longtime Capitol Hill aides to his legislative affairs team.
Reema Dodin and Shuwanza Goff will serve as deputy directors of the White House Office of Legislative Affairs.
Dodin has been working on the transition team already, leading its legislative engagement with lawmakers on Capitol Hill. She also serves as deputy chief of staff and floor director to Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, the Democratic whip in the Senate.
Biden expected to tap Antony Blinken for secretary of state
Goff served as floor director for House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer. She helped craft the House Democrats’ legislative agenda.
Dodin and Goff join Louisa Terrell, who was recently named the director of the White House Office of Legislative Affairs. About a dozen other senior White House staffers also have been announced by the president-elect.
The team will be tasked with turning Biden’s long list of campaign promises into legislative blueprints and ushering them through a closely divided House and Senate. The first and biggest concern is expected to be a major coronavirus aid and response package after Biden takes office in January.