Biden's Election Victory Recognized by GOP, Cabinet Shapes Up

Leading U.S. Republican Senator Mitch McConnell recognized for the first time Joe Biden's victory in the November presidential election. "As of this morning, our country officially has a president-elect and a vice president-elect," McConnell said in a speech Tuesday.

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McConnell, who had opted for silence in the weeks following the election, admitted that "the system of government has processes to determine who will be sworn in" despite expecting a "different outcome."  For this reason, he has congratulated Biden on his victory, saying that he is not a stranger to the Senate, since he has dedicated many years of his life to public service.

These statements by the Republican leader come one day after the US Electoral College ratified Biden's victory despite accusations by outgoing US President Donald Trump of "widespread fraud" in the elections.

The electoral body confirmed Biden's victory, surpassing Trump by a little more than 7,000,000 votes, while the Republican has not yet recognized the victory of his rival, insisting that he has possibilities of challenging the election results based on an alleged massive fraud of which he has not provided any evidence.

In fact, the New York tycoon's election campaign has failed to prove any evidence of fraud, and his legal challenges to the vote, examined by dozens of federal judges, have been dismissed in the key states of Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, which gave Biden the victory.

Meanwhile, President-elect Joe Biden has continued to shape up his Cabinet and has tapped Pete Buttigieg to lead the U.S. Transportation Department, making him the first of Biden’s Democratic rivals for the presidency to land a role in his Cabinet. Buttigieg would also make history as the first LGBTQ person nominated to Biden’s administration and, if confirmed, the first LGBTQ Cabinet secretary to be approved by the Senate.

In another move that comes as a first-ever in the composition of a Cabinet, U.S. Representative Deb Haaland of New Mexico appears to be President-elect Joe Biden’s top choice to head the Departmen of the Interior, three informed sources said, a pick that would make her the first Native American to lead a Cabinet agency.

The Cabinet position, if confirmed, would give her authority over a department employing over 70,000 people across the United States and overseeing more than 20% of the nation’s surface, including tribal lands and national parks like Yellowstone and Yosemite.