Biden Faults ‘Roadblocks’ As His Team Manages Transition From Trump

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President-elect Joe Biden delivers remarks Monday after being briefed by members of his foreign policy and national security teams.





Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images



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Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images



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Biden said he and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris need a complete picture of the workings of government because of the magnitude of the challenges they’ll confront on taking office next month.

«We need to make sure nothing is lost in the handoff between administrations, he said. «We need full visibility.

The president-elect said not all agencies have been problematic and some of the interactions his team is having are «exemplary. Broadly, however, he described a national security and foreign policy institution in Washington that includes many entities Biden said were «hollowed out, short on «personnel, capacity and morale and in which «policy processes have atrophied or been sidelined.

Trump dismissed his most recent Senate-confirmed secretary of defense, Mark Esper, and replaced him with an acting interim officer, Chris Miller. The White House also replaced a number of other Pentagon leaders with interim replacements for the final weeks until Inauguration Day.