Biden to Start Receiving Classified Intelligence Brief With White House's Approval
The White House has greenlighted for Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden to receive the president's daily classified intelligence brief.
This was according to an administration official, as reported by Reuters on Tuesday. This new decision will let Biden have access to the latest intelligence reports about national security threats worldwide.
Biden told reporters in Wilmington, Delaware that he has not had an intelligence briefing but it had been offered. The General Services Administration told Biden on Monday that he could formally begin the hand-over process.
The GSA is the federal agency responsible to sign off presidential transitions.
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GSA Administrator Emily Murphy wrote a letter, saying that Biden would get access to resources that had been denied to him due to the legal challenges brought by U.S. President Donald Trump's campaign.
The legal challenges seek to overturn Biden's wing in some key swing states such as Pennsylvania, Georgia, Arizona, and Nevada.
An Office of the Director of National Intelligence official said that ODNI will provide requested support to the transition team following the statutory direction of the Presidential Transition Act.
"This afternoon the White House approved ODNI to move forward with providing the PDB (president's daily brief) as part of the support to the transition," the official was quoted in a Reuters report.
Meanwhile, Biden said on Tuesday that the United States will ready to lead again on the global stage. Biden implied that he will be plans to take the office on Jan. 20 and steer the U.S. away from Trump's nationalistic ideology "America First."
Biden said his team would remove what he described as old thinking and unchanged habits in the foreign relations.
"It's a team that reflects the fact that America is back, ready to lead the world, not retreat from it, once again sit at the head of the table, ready to confront our adversaries and not reject our allies, ready to stand up for our values," Biden was quoted on a National Post report.
Meanwhile, Biden's team of advisers started reaching out to Trump officials to learn about the security threats the country faces, as reported by Voice of America News.
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Pentagon officials said that Biden's transition team immediately contacted the Defense Department soon after Murphy determined Biden is the election winner.
Murphy's actions would allow Biden to use public funds for the transition, as well as to receive security briefings.
His transition officials would also be allowed to gain access to federal agencies. One of the most urgent issues Biden intends to resolve immediately is the surging cases of COVID-19 in the United States.
Biden officials want to gain access to Trump's administration timetable to approve three COVID-19 vaccines in the next few weeks.
The team also wants to be informed about the plans for widespread vaccination of Americans to begin before the end of the year and to be continued into 2021.
Other Biden transition officials are contacting authorities throughout the government to know more about the pending policy and to better understand staffing patterns.