By Ethan Resnik
Staff Writer
Joe Biden had a historic win on Nov. 7. He defeated incumbent President Donald Trump to become the 46th president of the United States. After a hard-fought campaign by both parties and about a week of initial vote counting, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were elected to office in an election held in a trying time in American history.
Despite the already lengthy election process, the fight was not over yet. Donald Trump refused to concede the presidency and pressed claims of voter fraud. He has filed multiple lawsuits following his claims to try to reverse the results of the election. As of right now, none of them have been successful, however, Trump refuses to concede.
“My mind will not change in six months,” Trump told broadcaster Fox News. However, he expressed doubt as to whether the U.S. Supreme Court would hear any of the cases.
“We have to move very fast,” Trump elaborated on the legal challenges in DW.com. He continued, “The problem is it's hard to get it to the Supreme Court.” President Trump also said he would leave the White House on Jan. 20, but he expects “a lot of things to change before then,” according to npr.org.
In preparation for his upcoming term, Joe Biden is beginning to assemble his cabinet. Biden is expected to staff his cabinet with experienced advisors and experts. Biden claims that he is also interested in diversifying his cabinet. According to People.com, in a statement made on the same day in which he announced his first round of picks, Biden called his choices “experienced, crisis-tested leaders who are ready to hit the ground running on day one."
As of Dec. 4, Biden has made a plethora of picks for his cabinet. He has selected Alejandro Mayorkas as the Secretary of Homeland Security. Mayorkas came to the U.S. in 1960 as an immigrant from Cuba and will be the first Latino selected to lead the Department of Homeland Security. His job will include overseeing immigration policy and border security.
Additionally, Biden has selected Janet Yelen as the first female Secretary of the Treasury. Yellen is extremely experienced for this job as she has decades of experience as a former professor at the University of California in Berkeley. She also served as Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers under President Bill Clinton and later as Chair of the Federal Reserve, a post for which she was nominated by then-President Barack Obama.
Other highlights among the Biden cabinet picks include Anthony Blinken as Secretary of State, Ron Klain as Chief of Staff, Avril Haines as Director of National Defense and Jake Sillivan as National Security Advisor. Looking to the future, Biden’s inauguration will not look like any prior inaugurations in U.S. history.
“It’s not going to necessarily look like what people are used to, but welcome to 2020 — or in this case 2021,” reported Addisu Demissie, a Democratic strategist who helped plan this year’s largely virtual Democratic National Convention. Biden also informed the public that the inauguration will follow the strict health safety protocols that governed his campaign.
According to NBC, Tony Allen, the newly named CEO of Biden’s Presidential Inaugural Committee made a statement announcing, “This year's inauguration will look different amid the pandemic, but we will honor the American inaugural traditions and engage Americans across the country while keeping everybody healthy and safe.”
