politico | Mike Pence announces Space Force members will be called ‘guardians’
The name was chosen from suggestions made by members of the Space Force, who have been colloquially known as ‘space professionals’
Some on Twitter immediately connected the name to the Guardians of the Galaxy films
Scoop: Pentagon halts Biden transition briefings
Acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller. Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images
Acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller ordered a Pentagon-wide halt to cooperation with the transition of President-elect Biden, shocking officials across the Defense Department, senior administration officials tell Axios.
The latest: Biden transition director Yohannes Abraham contradicted the Pentagon s official response to this story on Friday afternoon, telling reporters, Let me be clear: there was no mutually agreed upon holiday break. In fact, we think it’s important that briefings and other engagements continue during this period as there’s no time to spare, and that’s particularly true in the aftermath of ascertainment delay, Abraham continued, referring to the Trump administration s delay in recognizing Biden as president-elect.
Acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller (middle) Reed Werner is the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for South and Southeast Asia (left) Lt. Gen. Bryan P. Fenton, Senior Military Assistant to the Secretary of Defense (right), participate in a virtual Association of Southeast Asian Nations meeting at The Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies, Honolulu, Hawaii, Dec. 9, 2020. On Dec. 18, Miller postponed all Pentagon meetings with the Biden transition team. (Air Force photograph by Staff Sgt. Jack Sanders)
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By Stuart Ibberson, editor
Several news outlets are reporting that the Defense Department has halted transition meetings between DOD leadership and the incoming Biden team.
Image from: cnn.com
I can t stand Mike Pence, but at least you can count on him for some basic vice-presidenting, and considering his evangelical base, it was a good thing for him to get public vaccinated this morning. At least some of his people who wouldn t consider it will rethink their positions, thanks to him. (And God knows, I ve never said that before!)
“I didn’t feel a thing,” Pence says after getting his coronavirus vaccine. pic.twitter.com/Lt6ocSoL78
WATCH: The moment Vice President Pence, second lady Karen Pence and Surgeon General Jerome Adams publicly receive their COVID-19 vaccine shots https://t.co/plzKpT9bWqpic.twitter.com/Mlo1dDX6Vo
A top Biden official was reportedly not told about the move, but one official suggested to Axios that it was just a delay due to the approaching holidays.
“We had fewer than two dozen remaining meetings on the schedule today and next week,” the official said. “These same senior leaders needed to do their day jobs and were being consumed by transition activities … With the holidays we are taking a knee for two weeks. We are still committed to a productive transition.”
President Donald Trump’s 2020 campaign adviser Steve Cortes appeared to believe the move was related to recent reports about Hunter Biden and potential business dealings with the Chinese Communist Party.