“President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team unveiled his picks for top national security positions on Monday. But one post was notably absent from the list: secretary of Defense,” Politico reports.

“Biden-watchers and national security veterans saw the omission as a sign that Michèle Flournoy, the woman who has been rumored for months to be a shoo-in for Biden’s Pentagon chief, might not have a lock on the job after all.”

“While Flournoy is still a strong contender, six people close to the transition say Biden is not entirely sold on the woman who was widely seen as Hillary Clinton’s pick for Defense secretary if she had won the presidency in 2016.”

The General Services Administration has informed President-elect Joe Biden that the Trump administration is ready to begin the formal transition process, CNN reports.

“Since it seems apparent that Joe Biden will be the president-elect, my hope is that President Trump will take pride in his considerable accomplishments, put the country first and have a prompt and orderly transition to help the new administration succeed. When you are in public life, people remember the last thing you do.”

— Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN), in a statement calling on President Trump to begin the transition.

Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) released a statement calling for the presidential transition to begin.

Said Capito: “While some irregularities and fraud have been found and should be punished, there is no indication that these are widespread enough to call into question the outcome of the election.”

Washington Post: “At the heart of this optimism is the belief that politicians on both sides of the aisle get more accomplished when they like each other. And the other business of Washington — the cultural institutions, the diplomatic corps, the gala fundraisers, the hundreds of historical traditions — need bipartisanship to really thrive. They struggled during the Trump administration, when everything became a test of loyalty and the notion that good people could disagree without being disagreeable was laughable.”

“Back to normal will mean more state dinners, a prestigious and glamorous way of reestablishing global ties. And it means that Washington events traditionally attended by the president and first lady for the better part of five decades — the Honors, the Alfalfa dinner, the Gridiron, Ford’s Theatre gala and the correspondents’ dinner — will likely return to their former glory.”

Asked if he expects Republican roadblocks to his nominees, Joe Biden told reporters, “Are you kidding me?”

He then laughed.

“President-elect Joe Biden plans to nominate former Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen, an economist at the forefront of policy-making for three decades, to become the next Treasury secretary,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“If confirmed by the Senate, Ms. Yellen would become the first woman to hold the job.”

CNBC: “Yellen is widely seen as a politically “safe” pick for the role, likely to garner support from Senate Republicans as someone capable of pursing bipartisan compromise during an otherwise fragile time for the economy.”