President-elect Joe Biden said on Monday that Donal Trump’s recruits at the Pentagon were stalling on the transition and warned that “the United States faces security risks for this”.
“Right now, we just aren’t getting all the information that we need from the outgoing administration in key national security areas,” Biden said after he and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris were briefed by their transition teams on national security.
Biden said the political recruits at the Pentagon as well as the Office of Management and Budget had put up “roadblocks”, mentioning that the matter is “nothing short, in my view, of irresponsibility.”
Biden said he was seeking a “clear picture” from the outgoing administration on the force posture of US troops around the world.
“We need full visibility into the budget planning underway at the Defense Department and other agencies in order to avoid any window of confusion or catch-up that our adversaries may try to exploit,” Biden said.
Trump has refused to concede the November 3 election, which Biden won by some seven million votes and by 306-232 in the state-by-state Electoral College. The President has made unsubstantiated claims of widespread fraud.
The Trump administration has drawn concern by shaking up the leadership of the Pentagon since the election including firing defense secretary Mark Esper, who had distanced himself from the president’s use of force against unarmed anti-racism demonstrators earlier this year.Source: AFP, Source: https://www.daily-bangladesh.com
