President Trump’s delay in transitioning to President-elect Joe Biden “hurts out national security,” John Kelly, Trump’s former chief of staff, told Politico.

Said Kelly: “The president, with all due respect, does not have to concede. But it’s about the nation. It hurts our national security because the people who should be getting up to speed, it’s not a process where you go from zero to 1,000 miles per hour.”

“President-elect Joe Biden is considering plucking Angus King from the Senate to serve as director of national intelligence in his new administration,” Politico reports.

“The senator from Maine, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, is a prominent member of the Senate Intelligence and Armed Services committees. His appointment as Biden’s intelligence chief would give the president-elect someone in the position that both he and the intelligence community know well.”

“But it would also vacate a Democratic Senate seat in a state that just overwhelmingly reelected a Republican, Susan Collins, to its other Senate seat.”

President-elect Joe Biden will be briefed by national security experts next week, amid concerns that being out of the loop due to delays to the transition could be a national security risk, Reuters reports.

“President Trump’s refusal to allow President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. and his transition staff access to government offices, secure communications and classified briefings prompted growing warnings on Thursday, including from Republicans, that keeping Mr. Biden in the dark potentially endangers the country,” the New York Times reports.

“On Capitol Hill, several Senate Republicans insisted that Mr. Biden should at least be given access to the President’s Daily Brief, the compendium of the nation’s most closely guarded intelligence secrets and assessments of threats like terrorist plots and cyberattack vulnerabilities. Their call amounted to an acknowledgment that Mr. Biden would be declared the victor in the election.”

“President-elect Joe Biden’s team has had initial discussions with people who worked for former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis about helping with the transition at the Pentagon and possibly serving in the new administration,” Politico reports.

“The conversations are in the early stages, particularly as President Donald Trump has so far blocked the start of the official transition process, said the people, all former Trump administration officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive personnel issues.”

Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) told KRMG that if President-elect Joe Biden doesn’t have access to intelligence briefings by Friday then he will get involved.

Said Lankford: “I can assure you there will be a peaceful transition of power in the United States.”

President-elect Joe Biden will name Ron Klain, a veteran Democratic operative and a decades-long confidant, to be his White House chief of staff as early as Thursday morning, the New York Times reports.

“Mr. Klain, a lawyer with deep experience on Capitol Hill, advising President Barack Obama and in corporate board rooms, has been seen for months as the most likely choice to manage Mr. Biden’s team in the White House. Known for steady nerves, he is well versed as a tactician in the levers of power in both the executive and legislative branches. And he has a fierce wit, which he has frequently unleashed on President Trump on Twitter.”

The New York Times has speculation about who is being considered for each major post in the Biden administration.

“Joe Biden’s campaign strategy just crashed into Washington’s alternate reality. In his public appearances and statements since media outlets confirmed his victory on Saturday, the president-elect has kept the temperature low and offered reassurances that the transfer of power will proceed as dictated by law, even as President Donald Trump and fellow Republicans attempt to use the federal bureaucracy to stall his ascension to the White House,” Politico reports.

“It’s a familiar strategy Biden’s team has employed throughout the general election: follow the rules, model the behavior of a typical president and reject Trump’s attempts to draw the narrative into fantasyland. On Tuesday, Biden showed that he wouldn’t be lured into debating Trump’s version of reality, working to settle the nerves of jittery supporters who are alarmed by what they are hearing out of Republicans.”

Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) told WTAE that he believes the White House should start cooperating with the Biden presidential transition team.

Said Toomey: “We’re on a path it looks likely Joe Biden is going to be the next president of the United States. It’s not 100% certain but it is quite likely. So I think a transition process ought to begin.”

GQ has a good nugget at the end of a must-read profile of Sen. Doug Jones (D-AL), who lost his re-election bid last week:

“According to a Democratic source, on Saturday, after Biden was announced as the next president of the United States, the Biden transition team made contact with Jones.”

Vice President-elect Kamala Harris’ husband, Doug Emhoff, will leave his job as a partner with a high-profile law firm to focus on his role in the new Biden administration, the AP reports.

The FAA extended restricted airspace over Joe Biden’s home in Wilmington through Inauguration Day.