Presumptive President-elect Joseph R. Biden is turning to some familiar faces from the Obama administration as he looks to fill out a national security and foreign policy team that is “ready on Day One to help me reclaim America’s seat at the head of the table.”
Mr. Biden announced he is nominating Alejandro N. Mayorkas as secretary of Homeland Security, Avril Haines as director of National Intelligence, and Linda Thomas-Greenfield as ambassador to the United Nations.
Jake Sullivan was named as a national security adviser and former Secretary of State John Kerry has been tapped as a special presidential envoy for climate.
The official announcement included the widely reported news that Antony Blinken is being put forward to serve as secretary of state.
Mr. Biden said the group has the skills needed to “rally the world to meet the biggest challenges we face, and advance our security, prosperity, and values.”
“This is the crux of that team,” Mr. Biden said. “These individuals are equally as experienced and crisis-tested as they are innovative and imaginative.”
“Their accomplishments in diplomacy are unmatched, but they also reflect the idea that we cannot meet the profound challenges of this new moment with old thinking and unchanged habits — or without diversity of background and perspective,” he said.
Mr. Blinken, Mr. Mayorkas, Mr. Kerry and Ms. Thomas-Greenfield also served in different capacities in the Obama administration.
Mr. Sullivan, meanwhile, served as a top adviser to Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign.
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
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