Trump Pentagon, Biden Team Clash As Transition Grows Controversial

WASHINGTON: President-elect Biden’s team today flatly rejected the Pentagon’s explanation of why two weeks of transition briefings were abruptly canceled, complaining about “isolated resistance in some quarters, including from political appointees within the Department of Defense.”

The flap began Friday morning, with a statement from acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller explaining that a “mutually-agreed upon holiday pause” until after the new year was going into effect. He was reacting to an Axios story that said all Pentagon transition briefings were halted until after the new year.

The Biden team’s response was quick, and unequivocal.

“There was no mutually agreed-upon holiday break,” Yohannes Abraham, a Biden spokesman, told reporters Friday. “In fact, we believe it’s important” the briefings continue “as there’s no time to spare” in getting the incoming administration up to speed.

“We were concerned to learn this week about an abrupt halt” in cooperation, Abraham said, adding the Biden transition has seen “isolated resistance in some quarters, including from political appointees within the Department of Defense.”

The Pentagon reportedly canceled meetings scheduled for Friday between the two sides, citing the workload from shipping the Covid vaccine and the massive, months-long intrusion of federal agencies by Russian hackers which was revealed this week.

Miller’s statement held that the Pentagon has at no time “canceled or declined any interview,” and “I remain committed to a full and transparent transition – this is what our nation expects and the DoD will deliver AS IT ALWAYS HAS.” He pointed to the 139 meetings with 265 officials already conducted, along with 4,400 pages of non-public information and 900 pages of classified information shared with the Biden transition.

Asked if Miller was lying in his statement, Biden spokeswoman Jen Pskai said, “I don’t think we need to communicate that. I think you can make your own judgment about the information we provided.”

“I know it’s the holidays but the transition period is so short that pauses can have a ripple effect later,” said Mackenzie Eaglen of the American Enterprise Institute, though she noted that the Pentagon provided “compelling stats” about the number of meetings and documents reviewed by the Biden team.

While any delay might be concerning, the people Biden has on his staff working on the transition have almost all served at DoD before: “Since this transition team is full of previous government veterans at high levels, presumably they will still hit the ground running.”

The transition effort got off to a late start on Nov. 24 after the General Services Administration finally issued its decision that Biden had won the election. That delay set the whole process back weeks, and both sides have been rushing to catch up ever since. 

At the same time, the Pentagon has been in upheaval, with Trump firing Defense Secretary Mark Esper and his chief of staff in the days after the election, and installing Miller as the acting head of the department, with Kash Patel, a Trump loyalist, as Miller’s chief of staff. 

One day after Esper’s ouster, Joseph Kernan, the undersecretary of defense for intelligence, and James Anderson, the acting undersecretary of policy were removed from their positions. Anderson was replaced by Anthony Tata, President Trump’s failed pick to take over the policy job earlier this year.

Miller is slated to meet with President Trump at the White House this afternoon, according to the White House’s schedule.