United States President-Elect Joe Biden on Wednesday appointed veteran Democrat Ron Klain his chief of staff and assistant.
Klain, one of Biden’s closest confidants, also served as his vice presidential chief of staff. He was in-charge of the White House response to the Ebola health crisis in 2014 during Barack Obama’s term. Klain also served as chief of staff to Vice President Al Gore during the Clinton administration and worked with Biden when he was chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
“Ron has been invaluable to me over the many years that we have worked together, including as we rescued the American economy from one of the worst downturns in our history in 2009 and later overcame a daunting public health emergency in 2014,” Biden said in a statement. “His deep, varied experience and capacity to work with people all across the political spectrum is precisely what I need in a White House chief of staff as we confront this moment of crisis and bring our country together again.”
In the same statement released by the Biden transition office, Klain said it was “the honor of a lifetime” to be named as chief of staff. “I look forward to helping him and the vice president-elect assemble a talented and diverse team to work in the White House, as we tackle their ambitious agenda for change, and seek to heal the divides in our country,” he added.
Trump files lawsuit in Michigan
Reports said the president-elect will announce names for the other positions in the White House in the coming days, even as outgoing President Donald Trump refuses to accept the results of the election. On Wednesday evening, Trump again tweeted: “WE WILL WIN”.
He also claimed “a mountain of corruption and dishonesty” in the US election without giving any evidence to back it up. Meanwhile, his campaign mounted the legal fight by filing a lawsuit in Michigan, Reuters reported.
Biden won Michigan by more than 1,48,000 votes, taking the state’s 16 Electoral College votes to his winning total of 290 so far. According to AP, Trump won the state of Alaska and his Electoral College tally rose to 217. It takes 270 electoral votes to become president.
Jake Rollow, a spokesperson for the Michigan Department of State, said the Trump campaign was promoting false claims to erode public confidence in elections. “It does not change the truth: Michigan’s elections were conducted fairly, securely, transparently, and the results are an accurate reflection of the will of the people,” Rollow said in a statement.
Georgia announces hand recount of votes
On Wednesday, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger announced a hand recount of all ballots cast as the margin of votes between Biden and Trump was close. Georgia has 16 Electoral College votes.
He said the counting is expected to begin this week and would be completed in time to certify the results by a November 20 deadline. “It’ll take every bit of the time that we have left, for sure,” Raffensperger told a news conference. “It’s a big lift.”
The election results in a small number of states remain undecided with Trump holding a lead in North Carolina and Biden ahead in Arizona and Georgia. However, recounts are unlikely to change the outcomes.
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