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Skimm This

New Admin, Who 'Dis?: Cabinet Picks and Challenges

Skimm This

theSkimm

News

4.53.6K Ratings

🗓️ 3 December 2020

⏱️ 32 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

We’re all pretty excited for a fresh start in 2021. Before we get there, we’ve got some vaccine news for you and a look at who might get a dose before the end of the year. Then, there’s one person who’s already making his intentions clear for 2021: President-Elect Joe Biden. We’ve got the who’s who on his cabinet picks and how he’s already making some contrasts between his team and President Trump’s. Plus, we’re playing catch-up on two crises in Ethiopia and Iran that could cause headaches for Biden’s incoming team.  Finally, there’s a Christmas tree shortage this year, and it’s not the Grinch’s fault. We’ll tell you how to take care of your tree this year - if you can get your hands on one. On this episode, you’ll hear from:  Michèle Flournoy, former US undersecretary of defense, co-founder, WestExec Advisors Bronwyn Bruton, director of programs and studies, The Atlantic Council’s Africa Center Ariane Tabatabai, Middle East fellow, Alliance for Securing Democracy Let us know what questions you have about what’s going on in the news right now. Email us at audio@theskimm.com or call and leave us a voicemail at: 646-461-6370. You might hear your message on the show.  If you want to add theSkimm to your daily routine, sign-up for our free newsletter the Daily Skimm. It’s everything you need to know to start your day, right in your inbox.  Skimm'd by Alex Carr, Justine Davie, and Luke Vargas. With additional support from Peter Bonaventure and Ciara Long. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

Think of President-elect Joe Biden right now as George Clooney.

0:06.0

Alright, before we get started, nobody's on the line here yet.

0:09.6

In Oceans 11.

0:10.6

But I'm about to propose to you as both highly lucrative and highly dangerous.

0:14.9

Okay, maybe not the dangerous part or the lucrative part, but with the inauguration less than 50

0:20.4

days out, it's time for Biden to put together a team to manage everything from the military

0:25.0

and the economy to U.S. foreign policy and dozens and dozens of federal agencies.

0:30.1

If that doesn't seem like your particular brand of vodka, help yourself as much food as

0:34.8

you like and have a safe journey, no hard feelings.

0:38.4

Otherwise come with me.

0:40.2

Good afternoon.

0:41.2

We're coming on the air right now because President-elect Joseph Biden is about to introduce

0:47.0

his national security team announcing his first cabinet picks, a whole list of them.

0:50.8

The first members of his cabinet, notable for a lot of firsts there, but also notable

0:55.8

that these are people with a lot of experience in government.

1:02.0

Over the last few days, President-elect Biden has been filling out key roles in his cabinet.

1:06.7

Now, we don't have time to cover all of them, but we didn't want to spotlight several

1:10.8

picks that Biden has made to his national security and foreign policy team.

1:15.0

Between looking at their backgrounds and the challenges they're likely to face, it's

1:18.3

actually possible to get a glimpse of what might be in store for U.S. foreign policy in

1:22.5

the years to come.

1:25.9

To help us out, we called up someone who knows a lot of the people likely to be taking

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