President-elect Biden picks John Kerry as climate czar, Alejandro Mayorkas for Homeland Security
The president-elect will be sworn into office in 58 days.
President-elect Joe Biden made official his picks for a number of high-level administration and Cabinet positions on Monday, including tapping former Secretary of State John Kerry to be his climate czar and Antony Blinken as secretary of state.
President-elect Biden also tapped Alejandro Mayorkas as his Homeland Security secretary, Linda Thomas-Greenfield as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Jake Sullivan as his national security adviser and Avril Haines as director of national intelligence.
Mayorkas is the first Latino and immigrant picked to head DHS and Kerry’s position is the first time that the National Security Council will include an official dedicated to climate change.
"We have no time to lose when it comes to our national security and foreign policy," President-elect Biden said in a statement. "I need a team ready on Day One to help me reclaim America’s seat at the head of the table, rally the world to meet the biggest challenges we face, and advance our security, prosperity, and values. This is the crux of that team."
"These individuals are equally as experienced and crisis-tested as they are innovative and imaginative," he continued. "Their accomplishments in diplomacy are unmatched, but they also reflect the idea that we cannot meet the profound challenges of this new moment with old thinking and unchanged habits -- or without diversity of background and perspective. It’s why I’ve selected them.”
It is expected the role of U.N. Ambassador will be elevated to a Cabinet-level position in the Biden-Harris administration, two sources told NBC News.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/biden-harris-meet-mayors-covid-cases-soar-n1248596