Biden prepares for inauguration on Trump's last full day in office

President-elect Joe Biden’s nominee to lead the State Department told senators at his confirmation hearing that the incoming administration recognizes Jerusalem as the Capitol of Israel and said it would leave the US embassy in the contested holy city.

Asked if he recognizes Jerusalem as Israel’s capitol, Antony Blinken said, “yes.” And asked if the US embassy would remain in Jerusalem, Blinken again said, “yes.”

Both moves by the Trump administration were deeply controversial, as both Israelis and Palestinians claim the holy city as their capitol. The status of Jerusalem is such a thorny issue that international consensus was to leave discussion about it to the end of Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations. Previous peace negotiations had included the idea that each side would claim a different part of the city as its capitol.

The Trump administration abandoned those internationally accepted parameters, stopped engaging with Palestinians, unilaterally moved its embassy to Jerusalem and recognized the city as Israel’s capitol. 

At Tuesday’s hearing, Blinken indicated that he believes the Trump administration policies have pushed Israelis and Palestinians farther from a peace deal than they have been in decades. He stressed he believes that a "two-state solution, however distant it may appear, is still the best and probably the only way to truly assure Israel's future as a Jewish and democratic state and of course to give the Palestinians the state to which they are entitled."

"The challenge, of course, is how to move forward on that at a time when ... it seems more distant than it's ever been, at least since Oslo," Blinken said. Offering some praise for the Abraham Accords, the normalization agreements the Trump administration brokered between Israel and Gulf countries, Blinken said he hopes those agreements create progress toward an Israeli-Palestinian agreement.

“I hope that might also might create a greater sense of confidence and security in Israel as it considers its relationship with the Palestinians,” Blinken said, “because whether we like or not, whether they like or not, it's not just going away.”

Former administration officials invited to President Trump's departure ceremony are taking a pass, some due to their disgust with Trump.

"Is there a disappointment factor, yes!" said one former senior White House official.

"Sending the mob was a red line," a senior White House adviser said. 

Another former senior White House official noted that invitees can bring five guests, describing that as a sign of desperation.

Vice President Mike Pence won't be attending Trump's departure ceremony tomorrow, according to his public schedule.

Sources close to Pence have blamed the logistical challenge of having the vice president attend both the departure ceremony and participate in Joe Biden's inauguration. But aides to the vice president have made their frustrations with Trump clear, ever since the President didn't check in on Pence who was fleeing pro-Trump rioters during the Capitol siege. 

Retired Army Gen. Lloyd Austin, President-elect Joe Biden’s nominee to be Defense secretary, called China the "ascending" threat facing the United States, describing it as the "pacing threat" to the military.

He then described Russia as a threat "in decline," but one still capable of doing damage "as we've seen here in recent days," referencing the hack of SolarWinds. 

The answer came in response to Republican Sen. Josh Hawley, who asked about the focus of the next National Defense Strategy, which will be formulated under the next Defense secretary's tenure.

"China presents the most significant threat going forward because China is ascending. Russia is also a threat, but it's in decline. It can still do a great deal of damage as we've seen here in recent days, and it's a country that we have to maintain some degree of focus on. But China is the pacing threat," said Austin. "It is the pacing issue — the pacing threat currently and I fully expect that it will remain so going forward."

Retired Army Gen. Lloyd Austin, President-elect Joe Biden’s nominee to be Defense secretary, agreed to recuse himself from matters concerning defense contractor Raytheon, where he previously served on the board of directors, in response to questions by Sen. Elizabeth Warren at his confirmation hearing.

“Raytheon is one of the world’s largest defense contractors, and I’m sensitive to the appearance, concerns that you raise in this particular situation,” said Austin.

He said he did not expect for there to be a circumstance that would arise that would compel him to seek a waiver from his recusal, but if such a circumstance came up, he said, “I would consider available alternatives to a waiver before seeking one, and would consult very carefully with agency ethics officials.”

Austin further said he did not intend to seek employment as a lobbyist or to sit on the board of a defense contractor after his service.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said, in a statement issued Tuesday ahead of US President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration Wednesday, that he is looking forward to working closely with the new administration.

“In our fight against Covid and across climate change, defense, security and in promoting and defending democracy, our goals are the same and our nations will work hand in hand to achieve them,” the prime minister added.

“I look forward to welcoming him to Carbis Bay for the G7 and Glasgow for COP as we join forces to protect our planet. Only through international cooperation can we truly overcome the shared challenges which we face,” the statement continued.

Antony Blinken said Tuesday that President-elect Joe Biden intends to seek an extension of the New START Treaty, but suggested he has not made a decision on the length of that extension. A full extension is five years. 

The landmark US-Russia arms treaty expires just 16 days after the inauguration.

The secretary of state-designate noted that Biden “couldn’t really engage” on the issue during the transition because he was “very cognizant of the fact we have one president at a time.”

Blinken told lawmakers that he believes “this is something that we will be coming to you on pretty much immediately as soon as the president is sworn-in, and I know that he does intend to seek an extension, and he’ll have to make a decision as President about what duration he would seek.”

The Trump administration went back and forth with the Russians on the terms of the longstanding treaty after efforts to create a new trilateral treaty with Russia and China failed.

Mitch McConnell and Chuck Schumer are still trying to hash out an agreement on their power-agreement, which will detail how committees are structured and provide general guidance of how the 50-50 Senate will operate.

There are still several sticking points, according to multiple sources.

One sticking point: ensuring that the filibuster remains intact, which McConnell is demanding.

Schumer doesn't have the votes to gut the filibuster, since several centrist Democrats have rejected calls to use the nuclear option to reduce the threshold from 60 votes to 51.

But as part of these talks, McConnell is asking Schumer to reassure the GOP that they won't seek to do away with the potent stall tactic in the Democratic majority.

Schumer, in a statement from his spokesperson, indicated that he wants the power-sharing agreement to mirror the 2001 deal that was struck to govern how the 50-50 Senate operated. Schumer's spokesperson asserted that the Democratic leader wants to keep "extraneous changes" out of the power-sharing agreement.

Secretary of State nominee Antony Blinken said the State Department “has to be” a non-partisan institution, breaking sharply from his predecessor Secretary of State Mike Pompeo who has repeatedly engaged in political activity while serving as America’s chief diplomat.

Blinken noted that he started his career in Washington at the State Department and he was never able to tell if the State Department officials he worked with were Democrats, Republicans or independents.

“They are simply professionals who are working to advance the national interest,” Blinken said of the State Department staff. “If the person who purports to lead them is not doing the same thing I think we’ve got a problem.”

Kaine said that Pompeo has turned the secretary of state into a “partisan political position,” by doing things such as speaking at the Republican National Convention which violated policy he had laid down for the rest of the department. He read Blinken the words of former Secretary of State Colin Powell who said he would not engage in political debates in his role as secretary. Blinken agreed.

“I strongly agree with Secretary Powell. And that is the model I would follow,” Blinken said.

Kaine said he will be “extremely disappointed” if he sees Blinken partake in campaign events for any Democrats including the president or the vice president.

“I would welcome you holding me to that,” Blinken said.

Secretary of State-designate Antony Blinken said that the Biden administration intends to join the global vaccine effort spurned by the Trump administration.

That effort, known as COVAX, is led by the World Health Organization. President Trump cut ties with WHO, but President-elect Joe Biden has pledged to rejoin it.

“We believe strongly that we can do that ensure that every American gets the vaccine, but also help make sure that others around the world who want it have access to it,” Blinken said during his Senate confirmation hearing.