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President-elect Biden’s selection on Wednesday of Ron Klain, the former federal “Ebola czar,” as White House chief of staff immediately put a pandemic-response veteran at the highest levels of government. The choice of Klain, a longtime Biden confidant who served as chief of staff to then-Vice President Biden during the Obama administration, is the latest signal that the president-elect is treating the pandemic as his top priority. (Facher, 11/12)

Announcing his appointment, Biden said Klain had been “invaluable to me over the many years that we have worked together” and praised his experience in tackling the 2008 financial crash and the Ebola outbreak – both useful additions to a resumé in the current public health and economic crisis. (Blackall, 11/12)

Ron Klain was once tapped by Democratic President Barack Obama to safeguard the United States from the threat of a lethal virus. As President-elect Joe Biden’s chief of staff, he will take on a similar mission. In 2014, Obama named Klain to serve as the “Ebola Czar” after an outbreak in West Africa that ended up killing thousands around the globe. All in all, only 11 people were treated in the United States for the virus and two died. (Hunnicutt and Oliphant, 11/11)

Donald Trump’s four-year war with the so-called “deep state” will leave Joe Biden a hollowed out and weakened federal workforce — one the president-elect will be forced to rebuild if he wants a shot at executing his sweeping policy agenda. Trump just this week forced out his Defense secretary and top officials overseeing policy and intelligence at the Pentagon. More than two dozen political appointees have fled the Department of Health and Human Services since the start of the Covid-19 crisis in February. (Casella and Miranda Ollstein, 11/12)

With the Trump White House blocking the administration from formally cooperating with Biden, the members of the Democrat’s transition team are under strict orders not to have any contact with current government officials, even back-channel conversations, according to people with knowledge of the situation, who presented several explanations for the directive. Biden transition team members are instead making contact with recently departed government officials and other experts to help them prepare for the new administration. ... The scramble shows how President Trump’s refusal to accept defeat has become much more than a symbolic stand. His administration’s blockade comes amid a deadly pandemic, an economic downturn and volatility abroad, stoking growing concerns that it will set back Biden’s effort to meet the swirl of crises confronting the nation. (Sullivan, Rein, Hudson and Meckler, 11/11)