US President-elect Joe Biden delivers remarks on national security and foreign policy at his transition headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware, US on December 28, 2020.
President-elect Joe Biden has said that many of America's security agencies have been "hollowed out" under President Donald Trump and the lack of information being provided to his transition team by the outgoing administration was an "irresponsibility."
"We've encountered roadblocks from the political leadership at the Department of Defense and the Office of Management and Budget," Biden said on Monday after a meeting with his foreign policy team.
"Right now we just aren't getting all of the information that we need from the outgoing administration in key national security areas. It's nothing short, in my view, of irresponsibility," he added.
After Biden beat Trump in the November 3 election, the Democrat's team only began meeting with administration officials in late November to coordinate the handover.
Trump, a Republican, has refused to concede defeat, and his administration only authorised cooperation with Biden on November 23. Biden takes office on January 20.
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Foreign policy challenges
Earlier this month, Biden's team said they had met resistance to requests for information from some Pentagon officials.
The Pentagon pushed back.
A senior defence official last week said that the Pentagon had conducted 163 interviews and 181 requests for information and that it would continue to provide information and meetings.
But Biden reiterated his team's concerns on Monday.
When he takes office, he will inherit a wide range of foreign policy and national security challenges, including China, Iran, and North Korea, as well as the coronavirus pandemic raging across the globe.
One of his toughest tasks will be rebuilding US alliances that have frayed under four years of Trump's "America First" agenda.
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Obstruction from Pentagon leadership
"My team needs a clear picture of our force posture around the world and our operations to deter our enemies," Biden said.
"We need full visibility to the budget planning under way at the Defense Department and other agencies in order to avoid any the window of confusion or catch up that our adversaries may try to exploit."
But Biden said his team while securing cooperation from some federal agencies had "encountered obstruction from the political leadership" at the Pentagon.
"And the truth is that many of the agencies that are crucial to our security have incurred enormous damage. Many of them have been hollowed out – in personnel, capacity, and in morale," he said.
"There’s policy processes that have atrophied or have been sidelined to the despair of our alliances."
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