WATCH: Biden Declares ‘America Is Back’ After Announcing First Cabinet Nominees

On Tuesday, President-elect Joe Biden announced the first nominees for positions within his administration.

“Together, these public servants will restore America globally, its global leadership and its moral leadership,” said Biden in a theater in Wilmington, Delaware, his current place of residence. “It’s a team that reflects the fact that America is back, ready to lead the world, not retreat from it.” Biden has been adamant that the nation should begin to move away from President Donald Trump’s “America First” policy on international relations, and instead focus on creating strong relationships with global allies.

Biden’s nominees all have had some involvement with the Obama administration, and are also a much more diverse group than Trump’s Cabinet, which was made of up of mainly wealthy white men. Some of Biden’s nominees, if confirmed, will be historical confirmations to a presidential Cabinet.

The nominees appeared behind Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris at the theater, and were noticeably wearing masks and socially distanced to prevent spread or infection of the coronavirus. This is something Biden and his team have done differently than the Trump administration, who had a severe outbreak at the White House earlier this year.

Biden nominated Antony Blinken for secretary of state, who has extensive experience in foreign policy, Alejandro Mayorkas for homeland security secretary, diplomat Linda Thomas-Greenfield for United States ambassador to the United Nations, and Jake Sullivan as national security adviser, among others.

A former deputy director of the CIA, Avril Haines, will be the first woman to hold the position of director of national intelligence. She will also have former Secretary of State John Kerry to work with in this position, as Biden wants him to submit input on climate change as a special envoy.

Biden stated that his Cabinet nominees “will make us proud to be Americans.” He then addressed the Senate, who must confirm his nominees, and asked them to “work across the aisle in good faith, and move forward for the country.”

Biden also thanked the General Services Administration for confirming a peaceful transition of power from Trump to Biden after Inauguration Day occurs on January 20. Trump, who still has yet to concede, wrote on Twitter that “the GSA does not determine who the next President of the United States will be.” Trump’s legal efforts regarding voter fraud and a “stolen” election have mostly been unsuccessful.

Article by Mia Graham