DEMS/FOREIGN POLICY/GOP/STATE/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TRUMP PEOPLE: “When Stephen E. Biegun was sworn in as deputy secretary of state, it was in front of an unusual crowd at the State Department — one that included loyalists to President Trump, but also a mix of Never Trumpers and Democrats. Denis R. McDonough, President Barack Obama’s White House chief of staff and deputy national security adviser, was there that day in December. So was John D. Negroponte, a former director of national intelligence under President George W. Bush who in 2016 refused to vote for Mr. Trump. There were career diplomats, congressional officials and national security experts from both parties who had worked with Mr. Biegun in his various roles in the Senate, the National Security Council and Ford Motor.”
–Lara Jakes, “Uniting Trumpers, Never Trumpers and Democrats With a New Deputy at the State Dept.,” The New York Times online, February 21, 2020