US President Donald Trump fired Secretary of Defense Mark Asper before leaving.
Christopher Miller, head of the National Counter-Terrorism Center, has been named acting defense minister, according to the news agency. Trump appointed Mark Asper as Secretary of Defense in July last year.
Mark Asper had objected to the deployment of troops in US cities to prevent violent protests in the name of Black Lives meters. Trump announced his dismissal on Twitter shortly after the election.
US Vice President Mike Pence, on the other hand, is on vacation. Newly elected US President Joe Biden will take office in January.
The new president is scheduled to be sworn in on January 20. In the United States, the period from the election on the first Tuesday of November to the swearing-in on January 20 is called the transitional period. Apart from the transfer of power to the newly elected president, other stages of the electoral process are also completed during this period.
U.S. law sets out the transition process during this period, which, contrary to popular belief, is far more complicated than handing over the key to the White House to a successful candidate.
States must submit a final list of electors to Congress by December 8, after the US election. These results are sent 6 days before the assembly of the electors and this year the date is December 8. This date is considered a 'safe harbor' because Congress considers the list of electors sent that day final and is less likely to object.
On January 3, the newly elected members of Congress take the oath of office. Along with the presidential election, both political parties are also expected to win more seats in both houses of Congress, the House of Representatives and the Senate.
According to US law, the term of office of the new president officially begins at noon on January 20, and the new president is sworn in. If Congress does not approve the election results by this date, then there is scope under federal law to appoint an acting president. If Congress does not approve the election of a president and vice president, the speaker of the House of Representatives has to take the oath of office.