WASHINGTON: The Latest on President-elect Joe Biden (all times local):
12:55 p.m.
President-elect Joe Biden has spoken to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, leaders of three of the United States most important European allies.
Johnsons support for Brexit and warm relationship with President Donald Trump have made many Democrats wary, but he was nonetheless among the first European leaders to congratulate Biden in a phone call.
Johnsons office said the two men discussed the close and longstanding relationship between the two countries and promised to strengthen those bonds in areas including trade and security. In the 25-minute call, they also promised to work on shared priorities, from tackling climate change, to promoting democracy, and building back better from the coronavirus pandemic, Downing St. said.
Build back better is a slogan that Biden and the British government have in common.
Johnson invited Biden to attend the COP26 climate change summit in Glasgow next November and said he looked forward to seeing him at a G-7 summit that the U.K. is due to host in 2021.
The French presidents office released a video of Macron in his office, offering congratulations to Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris during a call on Tuesday afternoon.
___
11:50 a.m.
Vice President-elect Kamala Harris’ husband, Doug Emhoff, will leave his job as a partner with a high-profile law firm to focus on his role in the new Biden administration.
A campaign spokeswoman said Tuesday that Emhoff will sever ties with DLA Piper by Inauguration Day. Emhoff took a leave of absence from the firm in August, when Harris was named Joe Bidens running mate. Biden and Harris will be inaugurated Jan. 20.
While Emhoff is not a lobbyist, the firm has lobbied the federal government on behalf of a range of corporate clients. Ethics experts say that connection could have presented an appearance of conflicts of interest as the Biden administration tries to restore trust and ethics in government following President Donald Trumps norm-shattering presidency.
Emhoff is working with the transition team to determine the issues he will take on as the vice presidential spouse. He is the first man to hold that role, as Harris is the nations first female vice president.
___
HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT PRESIDENT-ELECT JOE BIDEN’S TRANSITION TO THE WHITE HOUSE:
President-elect Joe Biden is championing the Obama administrations signature health law as it goes before the Supreme Court in a case that could overturn it.
Read more:
GOP tries again to get high court to ax health care law
Whats ascertainment? The green light to launch transition
Candidate concessions have been colorful, funny or absent
GOP backs Trump as he fights election results, transition
Much at stake as Supreme Court weighs future of Obamacare
__
HERE’S WHAT ELSE YOU NEED TO KNOW:
11:20 a.m.
U.S. defense officials said James Anderson, the top policy adviser at the Pentagon, submitted his resignation Tuesday, a day after President Donald Trump fired Defense Secretary Mark Esper. Anderson has been the acting undersecretary for policy since June. Previously he served as the deputy undersecretary since his confirmation for that job in August 2018.
Trumps firing of Esper comes as he has refused to concede his election loss to Democrat Joe Biden.
Defense officials spoke about Andersons resignation on condition of anonymity to discuss personnel matters.
A wide range of policy staff positions in the Pentagon have been filled with people on an acting basis over the past year or more, as a number of staff have left or have not been confirmed.
Chris Miller, who was tapped to serve as the Pentagon chief on Monday after Esper was fired, was in his second day in the building, meeting with top staff.
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor
Read all the Latest News, Breaking News and Coronavirus News here
Comments
0 comment