德尔·威尔明顿。当选总统乔·拜登的过渡团队星期五对国防部政治任命者的合作程度表示失望，称“那里已经有限的合作突然停止”。
拜登的过渡团队一直在与各机构的官员会面，以获得对新政府将继承的项目和挑战的详细审查。由于总务管理局拒绝发布拜登赢得大选的官方确认，这一过程被推迟了选举。总统任期的延迟唐纳德·特朗普其被任命人管理总务管理局的拒绝让步。
过渡执行主任约翰尼斯·亚伯拉罕(Yohannes Abraham)告诉记者，国防部的拜登机构审查小组周四了解到会议“被拉下”，并立即进行了报告。亚伯拉罕呼吁立即恢复会议和信息请求。
亚伯拉罕说:“如果不能齐心协力，后果可能会远远超过一月份。”。
五角大楼周五给出了不同的评估。它发表声明称，从周六开始，“双方同意暂停假期”。
国防部官员说，一些会议已经推迟，以便国防部人员可以集中精力解决与部分政府关门周五晚上，如果国会不能就新冠肺炎救助立法达成一致。周五晚上，国会通过了一项为期两天的临时支出法案，避免了政府关门。官员们匿名讨论内部审议。
代理国防部长克里斯托弗·米勒表示:“我们未来两周的重点是支持‘曲速行动’和新冠肺炎的基本信息请求，以‘保证完美的过渡’。
亚伯拉罕反驳道:“让我明确一点:双方没有约定假期。”。“事实上，我们认为在此期间继续举行简报会和其他活动非常重要，因为没有多余的时间了。”
五个多星期前，在特朗普解雇当时的五角大楼首脑马克·埃斯珀后，米勒被安排到这个职位。米勒很快用特朗普的忠实者取代了一些高级政策顾问，这些人可能不太愿意或没有能力有效参与过渡进程。
米勒说，国务院仍然致力于全面透明的过渡，并正在努力将对40名官员的约20次采访重新安排到1月1日之后。他说，该部门已经进行了139次采访，并提供了5300页的非公开或机密信息。
亚伯拉罕明确表示，拜登的过渡团队对这一决定不满意。拜登将于1月20日下午成为总统。
亚伯拉罕说:“过去几周，有许多机构和部门促进了信息交流和会议。"有一些不服从的地方，国防部就是其中之一."
Biden transition team criticizes cooperation from Pentagon
WILMINGTON, Del. -- President-elect Joe Biden's transition team expressed frustration Friday with the level of cooperation they're getting from political appointees at the Department of Defense, saying there has been “an abrupt halt in the already limited cooperation there."
Biden's transition team has been meeting with officials at various agencies to get detailed reviews of the programs and challenges the new administration will inherit, a process that was delayed when the General Services Administration declined to issue an official ascertainment that Biden had won theelection. The delay occurred as PresidentDonald Trump, whose appointee ran the GSA, refused to concede.
Yohannes Abraham, executive director of the transition, told reporters that Biden agency review teams at DOD learned Thursday of meetings “being pulled down" and immediately reported it. Abraham called for meetings and requests for information to resume immediately.
“A failure to work together can have consequences well beyond January," Abraham said.
The Pentagon on Friday offered a different assessment. It issued a statement saying there was a “mutually-agreed upon holiday pause,” which begins Saturday.
Defense officials said that some meetings had been postponed so that department personnel could concentrate on the issues associated with the possibility of a partialgovernment shutdownFriday evening if Congress was unable to agree on COVID-19 relief legislation. Congress passed a two-day stopgap spending bill Friday night, averting a shutdown. Officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.
“Our key focus in the next two weeks is supporting essential requests for information” on Operation Warp Speed and COVID-19 to “guarantee a flawless transition,” said acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller.
“Let me be clear: There was no mutually agreed upon holiday break,” Abraham countered. “In fact, we think it is important that briefings and other engagements continue during this period as there’s no time to spare.”
Miller was put in the job a little over five weeks ago, after Trump fired then-Pentagon chief Mark Esper. Miller quickly replaced a number of top policy advisers with Trump loyalists who may be less willing or able to participate effectively in the transition process.
Miller said the department remains committed to a full and transparent transition and is working to reschedule about 20 interviews with 40 officials until after Jan. 1. He said the department has already done 139 interviews and provided 5,300 pages of nonpublic or classified information.
Abraham made it clear that Biden's transition team was not satisfied with that decision. Biden becomes president the afternoon of Jan. 20.
“There have been many agencies and departments that have facilitated the exchange of info and meetings over the past few weeks,” Abraham said. “There have been pockets of recalcitrance, and DOD is one of them.”
