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March 28, 2024
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Biden introduces first Cabinet selections

The State Department transition team was contacted by President-elect Joe Biden’s State Department agency review team last night after the General Services Administration ascertained Biden’s victory, according to a senior State Department official with knowledge of the transition.

The outreach came from Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, who is the team lead and Biden’s pick for Ambassador to the UN, the official said.

Today there will be a virtual meeting with the State Department transition team, led by Ambassador Dan Smith, and the Biden transition team, the official said. This will be their first official meeting and comes more than two weeks after Biden gave a victory speech and was declared the winner of the election.

The meeting will begin to dig into logistical and substantive details, such as the pace of the process over the next few weeks and how much of the process will be done in person and how much will be done virtually, the official said.

While there is a scurry of activity in the transition offices at the State Department this morning, none of the Biden State Department team members have yet visited the offices, the official said.

Today Thomas-Greenfield is with Biden in Wilmington, Delaware, as he formally unveils a slew of high-profile Cabinet appointments, including his plan to send her to represent the US at the UN.

Traditionally the Cabinet picks don’t happen until after the transition has been in motion for at least a few weeks.

With the key Cabinet picks for State already done – with Tony Blinken chosen to be Biden’s Secretary of State – the transition process will operate a bit more quickly as the career transition team at State knows who they are working with and can prepare materials that they need with their input, the official said.