Career U.S. Military officials and Dept. of Defense civil servants are in shock after Acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller ordered a ban on all Biden transition team members and meetings with representatives of the President-elect.
“Miller ordered a Pentagon-wide halt to cooperation with the transition of President-elect Biden, shocking officials across the Defense Department,” Axios reports, citing senior administration officials.
The move “stunned officials throughout the Pentagon,” and “was the biggest eruption yet of animus and mistrust toward the Biden team from the top level of the Trump administration.”
Coincidentally, the only item on President Donald Trump’s official schedule today is a meeting with acting Secretary Miller, who has only been on the job since early November.
One senior Pentagon official claimed Defense Dept. staff have been “overwhelmed by the number of meetings…and were being consumed by transition activities.”
Claiming they are “still committed to a productive transition” the Pentagon says “we are taking a knee for two weeks,” because of “the holidays.”
The move comes barely more than three weeks after Trump says he allowed the General Services Administration to release transition funds, officially designating Biden as president-elect and allowing for Biden team members to interface with the Trump administration to ensure continuity of government and a successful hand-off.
Image: DoD photo by U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Jack Sanders via Flickr