“Right now, we just aren’t getting all the information that we need from the outgoing administration in key national security areas,” the president-elect said.
President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. said on Monday that his transition team had faced “obstruction” from the Defense Department, raising new concerns about the Trump administration’s cooperation with transition officials with just over three weeks until Inauguration Day. “Right now, we just aren’t getting all the information that we need from the outgoing administration in key national security areas,” Mr. Biden said in a brief speech in Wilmington, Del. “It’s nothing short, in my view, of irresponsibility.” Mr. Biden spoke after he and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris participated in a briefing with members of the transition’s agency review teams for the Defense Department, the State Department and other agencies dealing with national security and foreign policy. In his remarks, the president-elect complained that his team had “encountered roadblocks” from political leaders at the Defense Department as well as at the Office of Management and Budget. Mr. Biden emphasized the importance of a smooth transition, saying, “Right now, as our nation is in a period of transition, we need to make sure that nothing is lost in the handoff between administrations.
