Miami's Dr. Vivek Murthy To Co-Chair President-elect Joe Biden's Coronavirus Task Force
MIAMI (CBSMiami/AP) – President-elect Joe Biden is signaling he plans to move quickly building out his government and he is going to start by naming former surgeon general, Dr. Vivek Murthy, who grew up in Miami, as co-chair of a coronavirus working group to be announced on Monday.
Murphy came to Miami when he was three years old and was valedictorian of Palmetto Senior High when he graduated in 1994.
Biden also named former Food and Drug Administration commissioner, David Kessler, as co-chairs of group.
Other members are expected to be announced Monday.
Transition team officials say Biden this week will also launch his agency review teams. They're the transition staffers with access to key agencies in the current administration to help smooth the transfer of power.
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The teams will collect and review information such as budgetary and staffing decisions, pending regulations and other work in progress from current staff at the departments to help Biden's team prepare to transition. White House officials would not comment on whether they would cooperate with Biden's team on the review.
"People want the country to move forward," said Kate Bedingfield, Biden deputy campaign manager, in an interview on NBC's "Meet the Press, and see Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris "have the opportunity to do the work, to get the virus under control and to get our economy back together."
It's unclear for now whether President Donald Trump and his administration will cooperate. He has yet to acknowledge Biden's victory and has pledged to mount legal challenges in several closely contested states that decided the race.
(© Copyright 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
