Biden in danger of lacking confirmed cabinet secretaries on the first day of the presidency
By Paul Kane, Karoun Demirjian and Anne Gearan
Biden’s new administration runs the risk of not a single cabinet official being confirmed on inauguration day. This disrupts the Cold War tradition of ensuring that the president takes office with at least part of his national security team.
Delays in Congress, mainly caused by runoff elections in Georgia for Senate seats that the Democrats flipped this week, and the arcane procedures required to get the new chamber operational, have caused deep concern among Biden’s top advisors . They are now planning contingency plans for installing incumbent secretaries in most, if not all, cabinet posts in the event Biden’s candidates fail to secure Senate support by Jan. 20, according to those familiar with the discussions.
“The American people rightly expect the Senate to ratify its crisis-tested, skilled, historic cabinet candidates as soon as possible,” Ned Price, national security spokesman for the Biden transition team, said in a statement. “With so much at stake, we can’t afford to waste time guiding the response to the deadly coronavirus crisis, getting Americans back to work and protecting our national security . “
“General introvert. Pop culture specialist. Hardcore student. Creator. Bacon enthusiast.”
