Politico | Joe Biden’s team reaches out to former defence secretary James Mattis’s officials for help with transition
- Conversations are in the early stages, particularly as Donald Trump has so far blocked the start of the transition process
- The Biden team will in the coming weeks be reaching out to more former officials who were appointed by Mattis
This story is published in a content partnership with POLITICO. It was originally reported by Lara Seligman on politico.com on November 13, 2020.
US President-elect Joe Biden’s team has had initial discussions with people who worked for former defence secretary James Mattis about helping with the transition at the Pentagon and possibly serving in the new administration, according to three people familiar with the move.
The conversations are in the early stages, particularly as President Donald Trump has so far blocked the start of the official transition process, said the people, all former Trump administration officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive personnel issues.
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Biden is aiming to build an effective, bipartisan Defence Department leadership team, said one former Trump Pentagon official. The Biden team will in the coming weeks be reaching out to more former officials who were appointed by Mattis to talk about the transition and potentially serving, the person said.
The team is also seeking the former officials’ help because they do not expect current Pentagon leadership to be cooperative or particularly knowledgeable, the former official said.
Since early this year, the White House has been purging Pentagon officials who were deemed insufficiently loyal to the White House and installed those who can be trusted to carry out the president’s wishes. On Monday, Trump fired Defence Secretary Mark Esper, and a day later three more top officials were replaced by loyalists.
“Essentially, everyone that would have been helpful has left the Pentagon by retiring or being fired,” the former official said.
