President-elect Joe Biden said Monday that his transition team has encountered “roadblocks” from political leaders at both the Defense Department and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and called on the Trump administration to provide more information to avoid hiccups that adversaries could take advantage of during the transfer of power.
“My team needs a clear picture of our force posture around the world and our operations to deter our enemies,” Biden said in remarks following a meeting with national security and foreign policy advisers in Wilmington, Del. “We need full visibility into the budget planning underway at the Defense Department and other agencies in order to avoid any window of confusion or catch-up that our adversaries may try to exploit.”
“We have encountered roadblocks from the political leadership at the department of defense and the Office of Management and Budget. Right now, we just aren’t getting all of the information that we need from the outgoing administration in key national security areas,” he continued. “It’s nothing short, in my view, of irresponsibility.”
Biden did not expand further on what he described as “obstruction” by outgoing Pentagon leadership, nor did he take questions following his brief remarks.
His remarks prompted pushback from the Trump administration.
Acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller defended the department’s cooperation in a statement issued later Monday, saying political and career officials “have been working with the utmost professionalism to support transition activities in a compressed time schedule and they will continue to do so in a transparent and collegial manner that upholds the finest traditions of the Department.”
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Biden calls out Trump administration for obstructing transition, says there's critical information his team still hasn't received https://t.co/S7en3RS6PO pic.twitter.com/kHQmZ7V2RJ
— The Hill (@thehill) December 29, 2020
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