Joe Biden can get started

US President Donald Trump gives up his blockade of handing over the business of government to Joe Biden. He names other members of the government.

After weeks of hanging, the transition between the administration of incumbent Donald Trump and the elected US President Joe Biden can begin in the USA. Trump said on Monday evening (local time) on Twitter that he had instructed the authorities and his employees to cooperate with Biden.

Shortly beforehand, the responsible authority had classified GSA Biden as the obvious winner and at the same time declared that it had made this decision independently. It cleared the way for the Democrat's team to have access to ministries, agencies and confidential government information, as well as millions of dollars in salaries and other expenses, before the inauguration in January.

In the same tweet, however, Trump also announced that he would continue the fight to change the election results. And a few hours later he wrote: What has the GSA's permission to work temporarily with the Democrats to do with the continuation of our lawsuits against what will go down as the most corrupt election of all time in American history? I'll never admit defeat to fake ballot papers and Dominion. Dominion is voting software that Trump's lawyers blamed for converting millions of Trump votes into votes for Joe Biden - without producing a single piece of evidence.

Before the official start of the transition process, Biden had announced who he would like to fill key positions in his future government with. He nominated his longtime advisor Antony Blinken as foreign minister. The Ministry of Homeland Security is supposed to be headed by the Cuban exile Alejandro Mayorkas, he would be the first Latino on the post.

Transitional phase: every day is precious

Former Secretary of State John Kerry is slated to become special envoy for the climate in the White House National Security Council According to media reports, Biden also wants to put ex-Federal Reserve chief Janet Yellen at the head of the Treasury - as the first woman ever.

Biden's team linked the personal details with a commitment to multilateral cooperation in times of crisis. Historical challenges require historical, new approaches, Kerry explained in a video. The new US administration will bring the world together to meet challenges that no nation can meet alone.

Since Biden was proclaimed the winner of the presidential election by the US media on November 7th, he has demonstrated zest for action, but his hands have largely been tied because of Trump's stance on the blockade. In the USA, preparations for a change of power usually begin immediately after the election of a new president.

Every day is precious: The US President's power is unprecedented; he must be fully operational from day one, especially when it comes to national security. As commander in chief of the armed forces, he is responsible for a good 1.3 million soldiers and has the codes to approve the use of nuclear weapons in an emergency. The president and his government are responsible for a budget of nearly five trillion US dollars (4.2 trillion euros).

In the transition period, the president not only has to put his cabinet together, but also quickly fill thousands of posts in the White House, ministries and authorities. Around 1,200 personal details must be approved by the Senate. The offices of National Security Advisor and John Kerry's position as Climate Officer are not included.

Biden's transition team now has access to more than $ 6 million from the treasury. In addition, its employees are now officially allowed to communicate with government officials, which they were previously denied and which led to the active use of informal channels. The formal beginning of the handover is also visible at the ending.gov, which the Biden team can now use for its website.

Biden had condemned Trump's blocking stance as completely irresponsible and warned that, among other things, it could delay the containment of the corona virus and lead to an even larger number of victims. More than a quarter of a million people have died since the beginning of the pandemic - in terms of absolute numbers, that is more than in any other country in the world.

Biden's team welcomed the end of the blockade on Monday as a necessary step to begin addressing the challenges our country is facing. At meetings with current government officials, measures in the corona crisis will be discussed in the coming days and an insight into national security issues will be gained.