Meet the contenders for Biden’s Cabinet
The president-elect is expected to nominate a mix of progressives, moderates
and even a few Republicans as he seeks to satisfy a broad coalition.
In the next two and half months, Joe Biden needs to build a governing team
to help him tackle an historic pandemic and rebuild the economy — all while
winning approval from what's likely to be a Republican-controlled Senate and
holding together an unruly coalition of Democrats.
It's a task that will be nearly impossible to pull off.
The Biden transition team has been vetting potential candidates for months
and will present the president-elect with potential choices in the coming
days. Biden is expected to focus first on posts involving public health
and the economy, including the secretaries of the Treasury and Health and
Human Services, along with West Wing personnel. The former vice president
intends to be deliberative and is not likely announce Cabinet nominations
in the first week, according to an official close to the Biden team.
The president-elect will face incoming on several fronts, including from
Democrats who expect him to nominate the most diverse Cabinet in history.
That goal is not always compatible with the push from the party's vocal
left wing to nominate the most progressive Cabinet since Franklin D.
Roosevelt.
The Wall Street and Silicon Valley interests that poured money into
Biden's campaign over the final stretch have a different set of
priorities. So do Senate Republicans, at least a handful of whom Biden
will need to confirm his nominees, if, as seems likely, the GOP maintains
control of the chamber.
Biden can make history by nominating a person of color or a woman to head
the Treasury or Defense departments — the only two remaining departments
that have only ever had white men lead them.
Michele Flournoy, a former under secretary of Defense for policy, is
already the frontrunner to lead the Pentagon. A number of women and people
of color are also in the mix for the top job at Treasury, including
Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard and TIAA CEO Roger Ferguson.
Biden, who pledged to unite the country during the campaign, will likely
try to keep his coalition together by nominating a mix of progressives,
moderates and CONTINUE READING: Meet the contenders for Biden’s Cabinet - POLITICO
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