WILMINGTON: US President-elect Joe Biden will formally introduce his top economic policy advisers on Tuesday as his administration prepares to take power amid a slowing economic recovery hampered by the resurgent coronavirus pandemic.
Biden will appear at an event in his hometown of Wilmington, Delaware, alongside his selections for senior roles, including his nominee for US Treasury secretary, former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen.
The team’s makeup reinforces Biden’s view that a more aggressive approach to the pandemic is required. The advisers have all expressed support for government stimulus to maximise employment, reduce economic inequality and help women and minorities, who have been disproportionately hurt by the economic downturn.
Other picks include Cecilia Rouse, an economist at Princeton University, as chair of the Council of Economic Advisers; economists Heather Boushey and Jared Bernstein as council members; and Neera Tanden, chief executive of the liberal Center for American Progress think tank, as head of the Office of Management and Budget.
The transition to a Biden administration has proceeded despite Republican President Donald Trump’s false claims that he lost the election as a result of voter fraud.
On Monday, Biden received his first full classified intelligence briefing since winning the November 3 election, after Trump’s refusal to concede delayed the formal transition process for weeks. Arizona and Wisconsin, two battleground states where Trump has pursued fruitless efforts to overturn the results, each certified Biden’s victory on Monday. The certification of vote totals is typically a formality, but the process took on added significance amid Trump’s baseless allegations.
The Trump campaign planned to file a lawsuit in the Wisconsin Supreme Court on Tuesday, alleging abuse around the process of absentee voting, Fox News reported. The campaign did not immediately reply to Reuters’ request for comment. Trump has pursued a series of legal challenges in numerous states, although none has thus far resulted in any meaningful gains for the president. Most of the lawsuits have been rejected by judges, who have expressed skepticism about the claim that the election results are illegitimate. The Electoral College, which selects the presidential winner based on state-by-state results, is scheduled to meet on December 14.
Biden, the Democratic former vice president, will take office on January 20.
Biden’s latest nominations would place several women in top economic roles, reflecting his commitment to increasing diversity at the highest levels of the federal government.
Rouse would be the first Black woman to lead the Council of Economic Advisers, which advises the president on economic policy.
— Reuters
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