US President-elect Joe Biden on Monday announced key figures for his cabinet, picking Antony Blinken to be his Secretary of State and former US chief diplomat John Kerry as his special climate envoy. He also nominated Cuba-born lawyer Alejandro Mayorkas, the first Latino ever, to lead the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees immigration. Avril Haines, the former deputy CIA director, has been made the director of national intelligence.
All are veterans of the former Obama-Biden administration, and deeply experienced in their fields.
“We have no time to lose when it comes to our national security and foreign policy,” Biden said in a statement. “These individuals are equally as experienced and crisis-tested as they are innovative and imaginative,” he added.
