WASHINGTON — President-elect Joe Biden will meet with national security experts on Tuesday to discuss readiness at key agencies even as his transition team continues to be denied access to those federal departments.
Diplomatic, intelligence and defense advisers will brief Biden, a transition official said on Monday night. Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will join Biden for the session.
The meeting is not an official U.S. government briefing because the General Services Administration has not yet made the "ascertainment" that Biden has won the presidential election. Without access to the agencies, Biden is relying on experts from the Obama administration — as well as people who left government during the Trump years and are cooperative — to plan for the new administration.
Former Trump White House Chief of Staff John Kelly is among those who've warned that Biden's lack of access could be a threat to national security.
"You lose a lot if the transition is delayed because the new people are not allowed to get their head in the game," Kelly, a former Marine Corps general, told Politico last week. "The president, with all due respect, does not have to concede. But it's about the nation. It hurts our national security."
He added: "It's not a process where you go from zero to 1,000 miles per hour."
