WASHINGTON: The Latest on Senate confirmation hearings for President-elect Joe Bidens nominees for his administration (all times local):
6:30 a.m.
President-elect Joe Bidens nominee to be Americas top diplomat says hes ready to confront challenges posed by China, Iran, North Korea and Russia.
Secretary of State-designate Antony Blinken also says hes committed to rebuilding the State Department after four years of atrophy under the Trump administration.
Blinken is set to appear Tuesday before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
In testimony prepared for his appearance, Blinken says he sees a world of rising nationalism and receding democracy. He also says that mounting threats from authoritarian states are reshaping all aspects of human life, particularly in cyberspace.
Blinken says American global leadership still matters and without it rivals will either step in to fill the vacuum or there will be chaos. He says neither choice is palatable.
Blinken also promises to bring Congress in as a full foreign-policy partner, a subtle jab at President Donald Trump’s administration and its secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, who routinely ignored or bypassed lawmakers in policy-making.
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HERES WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT PRESIDENT-ELECT JOE BIDENS CABINET PICKS:
President-elect Joe Bidens national security Cabinet may be bare on Day One of his presidency, but an inauguration eve spurt of Senate confirmation hearings suggests that wont be the case for long.
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HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON:
6 a.m.
President-elect Joe Bidens pick for national intelligence director is planning to tell Senate lawmakers that intelligence and national security issues will not be politicized under her watch.
Avril Haines faces a confirmation hearing Tuesday before the Senate intelligence committee.
Haines will also tell lawmakers that the Office of the Director of National Intelligence must not shy away from speaking truth to power even if inconvenient or difficult. Thats according to excerpts of her prepared remarks released ahead of the hearing.
Haines served in the Obama administration as deputy director of the CIA and deputy national security adviser.
If confirmed, Haines would be tasked with restoring stability to an intelligence community that has been repeatedly denigrated by President Donald Trump. She would also be the first woman to hold the position.
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