Biden is already forming a government. Here's what his Cabinet could look like.

8/21/20
Sherrod Brown, the progressive senator from Ohio, says he’s talking with the Biden campaign about “where he needs to look and who he needs to look at” as he begins to form a potential administration. Other people in positions of power, both inside and outside government, are engaged in similar conversations. Interviews with more than a dozen Democrats familiar with his transition process describe an effort by his campaign to assemble a center-left amalgamation of personnel designed to prioritize speed over ideology in responding to the coronavirus and the resulting economic ruin. Think Susan Rice, but also Elizabeth Warren. Pete Buttigieg, but also Karen Bass. Biden is also taking economic advice from Warren, Democrats familiar with the campaign say. She is widely viewed as a potential Treasury secretary in a Biden administration. And progressives have been heartened by the composition of his transition team. “A lot of this isn’t about ideology or anything else. It’s totally about what do you do with the incredible hollowing out that Trump has done ... so many of the agencies just are empty, the career people have left,” said longtime Biden advisor Sen. Ted Kaufman. "You’re going to be walking into a very difficult situation, and a lot of it’s going to be blocking and tackling.”

One name often mentioned as a potential secretary of State is Rice, who was Obama’s national security adviser and made Biden's short list for vice president. A veteran Democratic strategist close to Biden’s transition team said that if Warren wants a post, she is “definitely in the Cabinet.” And even if she isn’t, she's likely to influence Biden’s thinking. Elsewhere in the Cabinet, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, who endorsed Biden in early January and served on his vice presidential selection committee, is a likely candidate for transportation or Housing and Urban Development, among other possible positions. Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.), another finalist for vice president, could be secretary of HUD or Health and Human Services. New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham “comes up a lot” in Cabinet talks, according to one former Biden adviser who remains in contact with Biden campaign officials. Buttigieg, the former South Bend, Ind., mayor and presidential contender, is seen as a likely choice for Ambassador to the United Nations or Secretary of Veterans Affairs. “The country will get behind Joe Biden, I think, in very powerful and important ways,” Reich said, adding that Biden has the opportunity to be “a transformative president … It’s almost entirely a function of the times.”

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Rogue Valley said:

Biden is already forming a government. Here's what his Cabinet could look like

An array of officials, from progressives like Elizabeth Warren to establishment types like Susan Rice, are seen as likely for key posts.

If Liz Warren were to be named by Joe Biden as a Cabinet member, what happens to her Senate seat? Although the Governor of Massachusetts, Charlie Baker, is a Republican, the Democrat majority Massachusetts state legislature is getting ready to vote on a law that would require a Governor to name someone from the same political party until a special election is held within 145 to 160 days of a resignation announcement. Baker needs state Democrat support to keep his seat, and did not vote for and does not support Donald Trump.

Click to expand...

Rogue Valley said:

Biden is already forming a government. Here's what his Cabinet could look like

An array of officials, from progressives like Elizabeth Warren to establishment types like Susan Rice, are seen as likely for key posts.

If Liz Warren were to be named by Joe Biden as a Cabinet member, what happens to her Senate seat? Although the Governor of Massachusetts, Charlie Baker, is a Republican, the Democrat majority Massachusetts state legislature is getting ready to vote on a law that would require a Governor to name someone from the same political party until a special election is held within 145 to 160 days of a resignation announcement. Baker needs state Democrat support to keep his seat, and did not vote for and does not support Donald Trump.

Click to expand...