Spotlight on Biden-Harris

Spotlight is on Joe Biden, the president-elect and vice president-elect Kamala Harris as they take over the chairs. The Indian perspective is no less than the issues in the US.

The high-profile team of Biden-Harris has several accomplished diplomats and personalities such as John Kerry, Vivek Murthy, Janet Yellen and Anthony Fauci. The Biden-Harris as leaders will be under watch for their steps for taking out United States out of an economic crisis.

Vice President-elect Kamala Harris is on the cusp of history. Kamala Harris is set to become the first Indian-origin, African-American person to be sworn in as the Vice-President of the United States of America. Democrat Joe Biden won the 2020 US Presidential Elections with a resounding margin.

Not only did he crush the Republican army, he also annihilated outgoing US president Donald Trump’s ego and four-year tenure marred by eccentric governance from White House. The year 2021 began on a grimmer note for the US as belligerent Trump supports attempted a coup by storming the Capitol Hill and vandalising the seat of the US government. This lead to Trump’s impeachment and an extraordinary military presence in Washington amid fears of extremist violence.

The swearing-in barely hours away. As Biden takes charge, he will inherit a US economy plagued by unemployment and debt.

Let’s see the who’s who of the Biden-Harris team. In the department of National Security Antony Blinken will be Secretary of State. Blinken had previously served as the Deputy Secretary of State during the Obama-Biden administration is the second highest ranking diplomat in the US. He has previously held top foreign affairs posts on Capitol Hill, in the White House, and in the US State Department.

Wendy R Sherman will be deputy Secretary of State. Sherman was the first woman to serve as the Under Secretary for Political Affairs, and if confirmed, is set to become the first woman Deputy Secretary of State. She was awarded the National Security Medal by President Obama for her diplomatic achievements.

Lloyd Austin will be Secretary of Defense. Austin is a retired four-star General with more than 40 years of service in the military. He had worked with Biden to bring back US troops from war-torn Iraq. He was also the chief architect of the US military campaign to defeat the Islamic State. Austin will become the first African American Secretary of Defense after the Biden administration takes over.

Kathleen Hicks will be deputy Secretary of Defense. Hicks leads the Biden-Harris transition’s Defense Agency Review Team, and is a former Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Strategy, Plans, and Forces and Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy. She is set to become the first woman to serve as the US Deputy Secretary of Defense.

Alejandro Mayorkas will be secretary of Homeland Security. Mayorkas would become the first immigrant and Latino head of the Department of Homeland Security. He had previously served as the Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security during the Obama-Biden administration.

Neera Tanden will be director of the Office of Management and Budget. Tanden’s predominantly focused on working on policies to support working families, formulate broad-based economic growth and check inequality. If confirmed, she will be the first woman of colour and of South Asian descent to lead the Office.

Rohit Chopra will be director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Chopra currently serves as a Commissioner in the Federal Trade Commission, and has actively advocated promoting fair and competitive markets which protect families and honest businesses from market maladies.

Avril Haines will be director of National Intelligence. Haines will be the first woman to serve as the Director of National Intelligence in the US. She was formerly the Principal Deputy National Security Advisor to President Barack Obama and Legal Advisor to the National Security Council.