Biden transition chief blasts ‘obstruction’ by political appointees at OMB, Pentagon

Source: Politico | December 30, 2020 | Quint Forgey

Yohannes Abraham said a lack of cooperation was limiting the president-elect’s ability to mount an effective economic response to the pandemic.

The head of President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team blasted the leadership of President Donald Trump’s Office of Management and Budget on Wednesday — accusing the agency of thwarting coordination between its career civil servants and incoming administration officials.

The fresh complaints from Yohannes Abraham, the transition’s executive director, about what he called “obstruction” by the White House budget office come after Biden’s team and the president-elect himself have expressed similar frustrations this month with Trump’s political appointees at the Pentagon.

In a virtual news briefing with reporters, Abraham acknowledged that although most of the transition’s agency review teams “have benefited from strong cooperation” with their federal counterparts, “unfortunately, that has not been the case across the board.”

Transition officials “have encountered obstruction from political leadership at various agencies, most notably at the Department of Defense and the Office of Management and Budget,” Abraham said.

“Make no mistake, this lack of cooperation has real-world implications, most concerningly as it relates to our national security,” he added. “This intentionally generated opacity makes it harder for our government to protect the American people moving forward.”

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