- Elected President Joe Biden said Monday that his transition team faces ongoing roadblocks from President Trump’s political leadership at the Pentagon and the Office of Management and Budget.
- “At the moment, we are just not getting all the information we need from the outgoing government in key national security areas,” Biden said.
- Biden has repeatedly expressed his concern over the past week over the lack of access he has received at the Pentagon, while the US is handling the SolarWinds cap and amid tensions with Iran.
- The Pentagon has dismissed allegations that officials stoned Biden.
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Elected President Joe Biden blames President Donald Trump’s political appointments at both the Department of Defense and the Office of Management and Budget for ‘obstruction’ and refuses to provide important information to his presidential transition team during remarks in Delaware Monday.
“We have encountered roadblocks of the political leadership at the Department of Defense and the Office of Management and Budget,” Biden said during prepared remarks after a briefing by his national security advisers.
“At the moment, we are just not getting all the information we need from the outgoing government in key national security areas,” he said. “In my opinion, this is nothing short of irresponsible.”
The Pentagon and the Office of Management and Budget did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Insider.
“My team needs a clear picture of our attitude around the world and our operations to scare off our enemies,” Biden said. “We thoroughly need the budget planning that is currently underway at the Department of Defense and other agencies to avoid any window of confusion or overtaking that our opponents could exploit.”
—The Recount (@therecount) 28 December 2020
This comes after Biden said last week that the Pentagon had refused to brief its national security team on several key issues, including the massive alleged Russian cyber attack on the US government this year. And Acting Secretary of Defense Chris Miller has ordered his department to cancel meetings with the Biden transition team, Axios reported earlier this month.
In response to the discovery of the SolarWinds cap, Trump claimed last week that ‘everything is well under control‘and that the’ Fake News Media ‘falsely blames Russia for the attack. But Biden said last week that the government did not share important information about the attack with his team, and his transition team says the obstruction continues.
“The Department of Defense has continued to deny and postpone meetings with our members of the Agency Review Team. There has been no significant progress since transition officials spoke earlier this month about the intransigence of the Department’s political leadership,” he said. Biden transition official told Insider on Monday after the presidential election.
“As the president has elected, no department is more important to our national security than the Department of Defense, and a reluctance to cooperate could have consequences beyond January 20,” the official added.
The Department of Defense has refuted allegations that officials are creating roadblocks for Biden and his team, as the president-elect has repeatedly expressed concern that he has not received comprehensive information on national security in recent days.
Biden argued Monday that many federal agencies were “shrouded” under Trump, apparently referring to the government’s failure to fill a broad position in government.
“The truth is that many of the agencies that are critical to our safety have done enormous damage,” Biden said. “Many of them are sanctified in staff, capacity and morality. The policy processes have been weakened or eliminated.”
—Biden-Harris Presidential Transition (@ Transition46) 28 December 2020
As Biden insisted on more thorough briefings and information from the Department of Defense, Trump issued new threats against Iran.
Tensions between Washington and Tehran have reached historic heights under the Trump administration, and Biden will have to contend with them as president in addition to the COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing concerns about the SolarWinds hack.