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DOW JONES INDEX: 11/18/20…29,783.35;
11/11/20…29,420.92; 6/27/13…15,000.00)
LESSON for
November 18, 2020 – “THE CABINET of DOCTOR FAUCI!”
Seeing as how the authorities have gone ahead and cancelled
Thanksgiving… for just this year, the “sensible people” retort, for EVER
shriek the disenfranchised MAGA tinfoil hat brigade, hardly anyone has much
of anything to celebrate. Most
Republican know, even if they won’t admit it, that they’ve been swept out of
power to do much of anything save… through the courts and, perhaps, the
Senate… obstruct, obfuscate and despoil, while the liberals have only the
(impending??) removal of Djonald Rechained on the credit side of their ledger. (See
Attachment One) It’s rather like having a rusty nail pulled out your foot…
its something that had to be done, but it still hurts and there’s always the
possibility of tetanus. Or typhoid.
Nothing to be thankful for, either.
Holidays have been blacked out from Plymouth Rock to Tupelo. (See Attachment Two) "You must cancel the normal
Thanksgiving plans," Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot ordered her
peasants. (See below, also Attachment
Three)
No question about it. The
plague is really calling the shots in America – Trump and Biden are just its
right and left fists, knowsomely or not. Which
means that the real President is Dr. Anthony Fauci,
just waiting for the chance for Trump to fire him and cement his status as a
martyr. When he starts his picking and
choosing after a Thanksgiving dinner (with Jill, with or without Hunter),
Sleepy Joe will be plague-woke enough not to select any cabinet ornaments
known to be CV-deniers (just as Trump’s appointees… at first, some have
turned to rats and deserted the ship)… believe that the masks are a Chinese
plot, Fauci is the Devil Incarnate, and the plague
is a hoax and will do so to their dying day.
There are, however, a few loyal Democrats who may have something to
be happy about before 2020 finally passes away with a rasping cough and a
curse upon everything which lives… and these are the swampiest of the
Obama-Biden swamp creatures whose antennae quiver with the anticipation of a
prestigious shelf in the Biden cabinet.
It’s not likely to be a cushy sinecure… those who are going to be
running the country under the ambivalent hand of a Chief Executive full of
doubts about his own authority are going to have to work for a living –
whether among the farms and fields tended by Americans inclined to hate them
for reasons fair or foul, or among the burning forests, the infectious
schools and overcrowded, underprovisioned
hospitals, the escalating tug of war between safety and the economy (in which
they’ll be the rope) and as somewhat contemptible outliers in a world
community that, over the last four years, has been starting to wish that
America would just go away.
No – they’ll earn their pay… far less, to be sure, than what they
could rake in on Wall Street (but, at least, with a decent government-paid
healthcare security blanket)… and, since most are reasonably decent,
reasonably honest and reasonably competent men and women, they’ll be able to
clock out at the end of what are likely to be twelve or fourteen-hour days
with a sense, at least, of having held back the tide for one more day.
These are the aspirants for Secretarial positions, wherein the
Secretary is also Boss of departments like State and Defense, Labor and
Agriculture… on and on and on, as the politicians add another slot every
decade or so. Fourteen in all (as
opposed to four appointed by George Washington in the century before the
century before Y2K) plus a few dozen more aide and administrators, special
appointments and the inevitable (especially should the Senate remain in the
claws of Mitch McConnell) actors, acting Secretaries of this, that and the
other, serving out time while the real appointee tries to navigate his or her
way through a bitter, punitive confirmation process.
With all fifty states (plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico)
being called, although not certified until a few recounts, remakes and
retakes take place over the next few weeks, President-elect Biden appears to
have an insurmountable lead over the incumbent. “But wait!” as the My Pillow guy might
demur, it’s been a strange year, and under strange stars, and Amy Coney
Barrett has been seated, meaning that the Supremes are unlikely to take the
side of the President-elect in everything and anything under the moon -
including the retention of Obamacare and the crucial “pre-existing
conditions” by the surprise Justice… Brett (“Gimme
a beer!) Kavanaugh.
And with, or without, the consent of Rudy Giuliani, Joe Biden is
sifting through resumes and recommendations and the talking classes are
talking up candidates and cabinet posts with the same zealous and jealous
delight that they employed, so recently, in handicapping the various races
for President and down-ballot posts. A
few dozen of the former have floated to the surface like the corpses of
gangsters and debtors in New York’s East River and, while the plague lumbers
on and Don Jones is beginning to understand that there will be no relief, no
vaccine, no recreation until at least April of next year and probably for
months, even years afterwards, we can at least console ourselves that we’ve
enjoyed the gambler’s draw in wagering which body will be installed upon
which shelf in Joe Biden’s cabinet of curiosities.
So here they…
BUT WAIT!
President Joe has already placed his finger on the paper, run
it up and down and not only selected a Chief of Staff, but jabbed a list of
thirteen names, as will not constitute his Corona Virus Task Force – an admittedly
less dramatic name than Operation Warp Speed, but perhaps a group as may
actually accomplish something as regards the production and the distribution
of whatever potions… either for vaccines or treatment… as are oozing out of
the labs at Pfizer, Moderna and other Big Pharma
nests.
Without even the say-so of The Real Donald Trump! Or Lindsey Graham! Such impertinence!
Did the ex-Veep stuff America’s stocking
with an assortment of mixed treats and/or lumps of coal? Well… the National Review predicted he will
stuff his cabinet with “propeller heads” (See Attachment Four) wound up and
set to fly by “bourbon Democrats”.
It’s not as refreshing as it sounds
And so, to reiterate…
Here they are:
From Stat and the AP, 11/9/20…
Members of President-elect Biden’s
coronavirus task force
President-elect
Joe Biden on Monday named the members of a team of public health and science experts to
develop a blueprint for fighting the coronavirus.
A
look at the members:
Dr.
David Kessler, co-chair. Professor of pediatrics and epidemiology and
biostatistics at the University of California, San Francisco, U.S. Food and
Drug Administration commissioner from 1990 to 1997.
Dr.
Vivek Murthy, co-chair. U.S. surgeon general from
2014-17, who commanded public health force that dealt with Ebola, Zika and Flint water crisis.
Dr.
Marcella Nunez-Smith, co-chair. Associate professor of internal medicine,
public health and management at Yale University and associate dean for health
equity research at Yale’s medical school specializing in health care for
marginalized populations.
Dr.
Rick Bright. Immunologist, virologist. Ousted as head of the Biomedical
Advanced Research and Development Authority after criticizing the federal
government’s response to the coronavirus under President Donald
Trump. Bright filed a whistleblower complaint alleging
he was reassigned to a lesser job because he resisted political pressure to
allow widespread use of hydroxychloroquine, a
malaria drug Trump pushed as a COVID-19 treatment.
Dr.
Luciana Borio. Vice president of technical staff at
the In-Q-Tel strategic investment firm who until last year was a biodefense
specialist on the National Security Council.
Dr.
Ezekiel Emanuel. Oncologist and chair of the Department of Medical Ethics and
Health Policy at the University of Pennsylvania who since 1997 has served as
chair of the Department of Bioethics at The Clinical Center of the National
Institutes of Health.
Dr.
Atul Gawande. Professor
of surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and at Harvard Medical School who
served as a senior adviser in the Department of Health and Human Services in
the Clinton administration.
Dr.
Celine Gounder. Clinical assistant professor at the
NYU Grossman School of Medicine who served as assistant commissioner and
director of the Bureau of Tuberculosis Control at New York City’s Department
of Health and Mental Hygiene.
Dr.
Julie Morita. Executive vice president of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
who helped lead Chicago’s Department of Public Health for nearly 20 years.
Michael
Osterholm. Director of the Center for Infectious
Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, former science
envoy for health security for the State Department.
Ms.
Loyce Pace. Executive director and president of the
Global Health Council, who previously served in leadership positions at the
American Cancer Society.
Dr.
Robert Rodriguez. Professor of emergency medicine at the University of
California, San Francisco, School of Medicine.
Dr.
Eric Goosby. Infectious disease expert and
professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, School
of Medicine who during the Clinton administration was the founding director
of the largest federally funded HIV/AIDS program.
Unlike Cabinet members, these semi-autonomous bodies do not have to
be confirmed by the Senate, such as it is, and so Mitchy
and Djonald have no recourse but to gnash their
teeth and frighten the public… through one or another of the dwindling corps
of media as hold out against the pandemic of science and reason beginning to
wash over Washington (DC, that is, the state is still dealing with its Murder
Hornets) like a berserk tsunami rushing in and causing the Potomac to run
backwards. Like, to… oh… 2015?
Time to get back to business.
And now, the plague people fingered, named and set to work without
Senatorial objection, here are some of the men and women vying for Cabinet
positions, listed in strict alphabetical order.
A note on the sources. The first entry, if unlisted, is courtesy
of the venerable (or lyin’) New York Times. Thereafter come the obvious likes of the
Washington Post, Fox and Fox News, CNN, USA Today, the Guardian U.K. (Brit
liberals), Breitbart (US alt-conservatives) FP (Foreigh
Policy, the magazine, and Sunrise (a passel of liberals and leftiers, dominated by The Squad). Some, mainly on the extreme left and right
have taken it upon themselves to suggest proposed new staff and cabinet
positions (as if there weren’t already too many gators in the swamp). And, of course, the Don Jones Index
couldn’t help but stick its nose into a few oily places (these remarks are in
RED).
The usual anonymous Sources say
that President-in-waiting Biden may start choosing a few choice cranberries (or,
Republicans scowl) turkeys on or about Thanksgiving.
So before the deciding; gits done, here they be…
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DEPT. of
AGRICULTURE
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Bustos
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WashPost
Bustos has privately signaled interest in the Agriculture position. A
member of the House Agriculture Committee, Bustos led the House Democrats’
campaign arm in the 2020 cycle and oversaw the loss of a slew of Democratic
seats that shrank their majority in the chamber. Bustos narrowly won
reelection in her conservative Illinois district. A Bustos spokeswoman did
not rule out an interest in a Cabinet post
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Fudge
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WashPost Fudge has served as the congresswoman for Ohio's
11th District since 2008, chairs the House Agriculture Nutrition, Oversight
and Department Operations Subcommittee, and ranks fourth on the House
Agriculture Committee. She has endorsed Rep. David Scott (D-Ga.) to be
chair of the House Agriculture Committee and has repeatedly expressed
interest in being agriculture secretary.
Fox -
Democratic Ohio Rep. Marcia Fudge, a frontrunner for a position in
President-elect Joe Biden's cabinet, vouched for a man accused of domestic
abuse, who then went on to murder his ex-wife after he got out of
prison.
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Heitkamp
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A former North Dakota senator
who served on the Agriculture Committee, Ms. Heitkamp
is a strong advocate for rural issues. She has criticized the Trump
administration’s trade policies, which led to tariffs on soybean exports to
China.
USA Today HEIDI HEITKAMP: A former
North Dakota senator who served on the Agriculture Committee, Ms. Heitkamp is a strong advocate for rural issues. She has
criticized the Trump administration’s trade policies, which led to tariffs
on soybean exports to China.
WashPost A former senator from North Dakota, Heitkamp was considered a top pick for the role of
Secretary of Agriculture for Donald Trump in 2016, and she is once again
considered so for Biden. Having served on the Agriculture, Nutrition and
Forestry Committee, she is popular with conventional farm groups and has
spoken about fossil fuels playing a role in the clean energy revolution. Heitkamp started the One Country Project, a nonprofit
to educate Democrats on how to appeal to voters in rural districts. She is
backed by Biden’s agricultural adviser, former secretary Tom Vilsack.
Guardian UK Heitkamp is the most commonly mentioned candidate for
secretary of agriculture, a role that covers far more than farm policy. Heitkamp is the last Democrat to serve as a senator
from North Dakota and has been an outspoken advocate on rural issues and
trade as it affects the farming community. As a senator she was a more
moderate member of the Democratic caucus.
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Klobuchar
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NYT A Minnesota senator,
former prosecutor in Minneapolis and candidate for the Democratic
nomination, Ms. Klobuchar, who was at one point in contention for Mr.
Biden’s running mate, has advocated increasing support for agricultural
commodities, disaster programs and federal crop insurance. (Ms. Klobuchar
has also been mentioned as a possible attorney general.)
USA Today AMY KLOBUCHAR: A Minnesota
senator, former prosecutor in Minneapolis and candidate for the Democratic
nomination, Ms. Klobuchar, who was at one point in contention for Mr.
Biden’s running mate, has advocated increasing support for agricultural
commodities, disaster programs and federal crop insurance. (Ms. Klobuchar
has also been mentioned as a possible attorney general.)
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Pingree
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WashPost Progressives are urging Biden to choose Pingree, the organic farmer and House Agriculture
Committee member from Maine who has introduced bills to decrease food
waste, reduce greenhouse gas emissions from farming and support small meat
processors. In a role typically filled by someone from conventional
agriculture in the Midwest’s Farm Belt, she would represent the concerns of
small farmers.
Sunrise — Rep. Chellie Pingree of Maine for secretary of agriculture
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ATTORNEY GENERAL (Dept.of Justice)
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Abrams
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FoxNews Abrams, who came close to becoming
the first Black female elected as governor, became a leading voting rights
advocate after narrowly losing the 2018 gubernatorial election in Georgia.
She was also considered as Biden’s running mate.
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Becerra
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Mr. Becerra has developed a
progressive track record as a California state official and during his
career in Congress. He succeeded Vice President-elect Kamala Harris as
California attorney general and is now widely viewed as a possible heir to
her Senate seat.
FNF California Attorney General
Xavier Becerra is another possible candidate,
WashPost Becerra is a former congressman who is now the
attorney general for the state of California. He has drawn attention
recently for the myriad of lawsuits he has brought against the Trump
administration.
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Bharara
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FoxNews Preet
Bharara, a former chief federal prosecutor in
Manhattan’s Southern District of New York during the Obama years. He made
national headlines when was fired by Trump soon after the new president
originally asked Bharara to remain in his post.
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Booker
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FoxNews Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, a Biden
rival during the Democratic primaries, serves on the Senate Judiciary
Committee and was a leading sponsor of the sweeping criminal justice
measure passed by Congress and signed into law by Trump. He would bring
diversity to the Justice Department
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Ellison
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Keith Ellison, attorney general
of Minnesota, for attorney general – Sunrise
AOC
via Fox News – Keith Ellison
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Jones
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DOUG JONES: Following his unlikely
Senate win in a special election in deep-red Alabama in 2017, Mr. Jones, a
former federal prosecutor, was unable to hold on to his seat this year. He
is widely admired within the party for pulling off that upset, as well as
for his impeccable civil rights record. He is white, though, and some of
Mr. Biden’s supporters may want the Justice Department in the hands of a
Black or Latino attorney general.
USA Today Doug Jones, who lost reelection
for his seat as a U.S. Senator from Alabama, will be without a job come
January. Jones is a former federal prosecutor and gained notoriety in the
Senate after a stunning upset during a special election in 2017 to replace
Jeff Sessions. During his time as a U.S. attorney in Alabama, Jones
prosecuted two members of the Ku Klux Klan in the early 2000s for their
roles in the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing from 1963.
WashPost Jones is a former U.S. attorney who won a special
election to replace Jeff Sessions as the U.S. senator from Alabama after
Trump named Sessions his attorney general. Jones recently lost his race to
hold the seat to retired football coach Tommy Tuberville.
Guardian UK Even before he
lost his re-election campaign, the outgoing Alabama senator Doug Jones had
been mentioned publicly and privately as a possible attorney general. Jones
is a longtime friend of Biden’s and a former US attorney who made a name
for himself by prosecuting Ku Klux Klansmen involved in the 1963 16th
Street Baptist church bombing. He was also involved in Democratic political
circles in Alabama, and Birmingham in particular, where he lives. Jones has
brushed off questions about serving in a Biden administration but
that was largely before he lost re-election. Now, it’s unclear what Jones
wants to do next.
CNN Jones is the junior United
States Senator from Alabama. He lost his reelection bid earlier
this month to Republican Tommy Tuberville. President Bill
Clinton appointed Jones as US Attorney for the Northern District of
Alabama, and Jones was the lead prosecutor suing KKK members
responsible for the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing. Jones was also
involved in the prosecution of Eric Rudolph, whose 1998 attack on a
Birmingham abortion clinic killed an off-duty police officer.
Fox News Democratic
Sen. Doug Jones of Alabama, who was defeated by Republican
challenger Tommy Tuberville in last week’s election, will be out of work
come January. While the former U.S. attorney in Alabama doesn’t add
diversity to the Cabinet, the longtime Biden friend brings a strong civil
rights record.
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Klobuchar
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Fox
News Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, a Biden rival during the battle for
the Democratic presidential nomination, is also mentioned as a potential
candidate for attorney general. Before being elected to the Senate in 2006,
Klobuchar served as Hennepin County attorney. The county is the most
populous in the state.
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Perez
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The Democratic Party
chairman, Mr. Perez has had a long career in government, notably as
secretary of labor and, earlier, as assistant attorney general for civil
rights. In that role, he led a federal investigation of Trayvon Martin’s
killing in Sanford, Fla., brought a lawsuit against the Arizona sheriff Joe
Arpaio for a pattern of abuses against Latinos,
and enforced civil rights laws for gay and transgender people. (Mr. Perez
has also been mentioned as a candidate for labor secretary.)
USA
Today Tom Perez, the
Democratic National Committee chairman, is another contender for the
position. Perez formerly served as assistant attorney general for
civil rights in President Barack Obama’s administration prior to being
appointed as Secretary of Labor, the second Latino person to hold that
position
Fox News Perez
served as assistant attorney general for civil rights in President Obama’s
administration before Obama named him as Labor secretary.
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Yates
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Ms. Yates, a former U.S.
attorney in Atlanta and deputy attorney general, briefly held the role of
acting attorney general during the early weeks of the Trump administration.
Her tenure lasted 10 days; she was fired for insubordination by Mr. Trump
when she advised him that the Justice Department could not defend his ban
on travel to the United States by citizens of several Muslim-majority
countries.
USA
Today Sally Yates, former
deputy attorney general in the Obama administration, served briefly during
the Trump administration transition as acting attorney general. She was
fired for refusing to support the president’s ban on immigration from
Muslim countries
WashPost Yates is a former U.S. attorney who served as deputy
attorney general at the end of the Obama administration and as the acting
attorney general briefly after Trump took office. She was fired from her
position for refusing to defend Trump's travel ban.
CNN Yates was fired by
Trump from her role as acting attorney general. The stunning move came
after CNN and other outlets reported that Yates told Justice Department
lawyers not to make legal arguments defending Trump's executive order on
immigration and refugees. Trump's executive order, signed in January 2017,
barred citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United
States for the following 90 days, suspended the admission of all refugees
for 120 days and indefinitely suspended the Syrian refugee program. The
executive order was later blocked by a federal judge, but the Supreme Court
ultimately upheld a revised version of the ban.
Yates had been appointed
by Obama and was set to serve until Trump's nominee for attorney general
was confirmed.
AOC
via Fox News Keith Ellison and AOC via Fox News Sally Yates as Attorney
General,
Fox News She gained
national attention when President Trump fired her during the early days of
his White House tenure for refusing to defend his executive order barring
people from a handful of Muslim countries from entering the U.S.
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CEA (COUNCIL of ECONOMIC ADVISERS)
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Hamilton
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Sunrise — Darrick
Hamilton, an economist and the executive director of the Kirwan Institute
at Ohio State University, for chair of the Council of Economic Advisers
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CENTRAL INELLIGENCE AGENCY
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Donilon
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TOM DONILON: Mr. Donilon,
who served as national security adviser under President Barack Obama, has
been tied to Mr. Biden since 1987, when he worked on his first presidential
campaign. A lawyer, he also oversaw the transition planning for the
Clinton-Kaine campaign in 2016
Mr. Donilon,
who served as national security adviser under President Barack Obama, has
been tied to Mr. Biden since 1987, when he worked on his first presidential
campaign. A lawyer, he also oversaw the transition planning for the
Clinton-Kaine campaign in 2016.
FP A fixture of Democratic
foreign-policy and national security officials, Donilon
served as Obama’s second national security advisor and has worked closely
with three U.S. presidents since taking up his first job in the White House
in 1977 during the Carter administration. Donilon
and his brother, Mike Donilon, who served as
chief strategist to the Biden campaign, have long been close with the
president-elect. Tom Donilon’s wife, Catherine
Russell, served as chief of staff to Biden’s wife, Jill Biden, when she was
second lady. Given his close relationship with the president-elect, Donilon could also be a contender for the position of
director of national intelligence.
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Haines
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A
former deputy C.I.A. director and former deputy national security
adviser, Ms. Haines has held several posts at Columbia University
since leaving the Obama administration. (Ms. Haines has also been mentioned
as a candidate for director of national intelligence.)
FP Haines has broken a
number of glass ceilings during her career, becoming the first woman to
serve as deputy director of the CIA and then as deputy national security
advisor during Obama’s second term. Haines joined the Biden campaign
in June to oversee its foreign policy and national security transition
team.
AVRIL HAINES: A former deputy
C.I.A. director and former deputy national security adviser, Ms.
Haines has held several posts at Columbia University since leaving the
Obama administration. (Ms. Haines has also been mentioned as a candidate
for director of national intelligence.)
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Morell
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Mr. Morell is a former
foreign service officer who served as both C.I.A. deputy director and twice
as its acting director. He is now in private business, chairing the
geopolitical risk practice at Beacon Global Strategies, a consulting firm
in Washington.
FP A career intelligence
official who worked his way all the way up to acting director of the CIA
before leaving in 2013 during the Obama administration, Morell was also
considered by the then-president to take over the agency after retired Army
Gen. David Petraeus resigned amid a sex scandal, but John Brennan was
selected instead. “I think he’d be seen as a real professional, dedicated
to analytical integrity, speaking truth to power, which I think Joe Biden
is going to want,” said Larry Pfeiffer, a former senior director of the
White House Situation Room. While he has come out against Trump over the
past four years and is beloved by agency types, Morell—who defended the
Obama administration’s stepped-up campaign of covert drone operations and
criticized the Senate’s analysis of CIA torture—could cause headaches as a
potential nominee with progressives in the upper chamber.
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PROPOSED
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CLIMATE CZAR
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Inslee
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Sunrise
- White House Office of Climate Mobilization to coordinate climate efforts
across the government, and to appoint as its leader either Gov. Jay Inslee
of Washington, whose presidential campaign last year centered on climate change;
Gina McCarthy, an EPA administrator under President Barack Obama; or John
Podesta, founder of the Center for American Progress, who was an adviser to
Obama on climate change.
(See
also McCarthy, Podesta)
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Kerry
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Breitbart -
Biden has suggested making climate change policy its own
Cabinet-level position. And Axios reported that
Kerry “would love to take” it, as Biden pulls the U.S. back into the
hapless Paris agreement.
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COMMERCE
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Hobson
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WashPost A prominent African American business executive, Hobson
could help Biden achieve his goal of leading a government that looks “like
America.” But her ties to the financial services industry — she sits on the
board of JPMorgan Chase — might irk progressives.
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McAuliffe
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WashPost Former governor of Virginia and ex-chair of the
Democratic National Committee
McAuliffe has long been seen as a potential
commerce secretary, either in a potential Hillary Clinton administration in
2016 or under Biden. But he now is viewed as more likely to focus on
running next year for a second, non-consecutive term as governor of the
commonwealth.
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Whitman
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WashPost Whitman is a Republican who ran unsuccessfully
for governor of California in 2010. She endorsed Biden in August and, if
chosen, would give his Cabinet a bipartisan cast. She built eBay into a
financial success and later oversaw Hewlett-Packard’s split into two
standalone companies. But her involvement in this year’s stunning collapse
of Quibi, a mobile streaming service that lasted
six months, may have dulled her glossy résumé.
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PROPOSED
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CORONAVIRUS CZAR
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Fauci
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Coronavirus Czar Breitbart Biden has said many times that
he would put Dr. Fauci in charge of the
coronavirus response. Instead of being balanced by economic experts, Fauci would be given license to push for draconian
shutdowns. DJI
- So the strategy would be to pay off
the plague???
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DEPARTMENT of HOMELAND SECURITY
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Castro
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Breitbart
Castro, who personally escorted Central American migrants to the
U.S. border, was floated by The Atlantic for
Biden’s “shadow Cabinet,” focusing on immigration and minority affairs.
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Demings
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WashPost Demings, a career
police officer and former chief of the Orlando Police Department elected to
Congress in 2017, was occasionally mentioned as a possible
vice-presidential pick for Biden. Choosing her for the secretary job could
help assure some rank-and-file federal officers and agents worried that the
new administration will sideline the big enforcement agencies – such as
U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement – which Trump claimed were “his people.”
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Mayorkas
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USA
Today Alejandro Mayorkas,
is a Cuban American lawyer who ran Citizenship and Immigration Services
before becoming deputy secretary of the department during the Obama
administration. If appointed, he would be the first Latino person
named Secretary of Homeland Security
WashPost Mayorkas is widely
considered the leading candidate for the top job at DHS. Currently an
attorney at the D.C. law firm WilmerHale, Mayorkas served as director of U.S. Citizenship and
Immigration Services during President Obama’s first term, and was promoted
to deputy secretary under Jeh Johnson for Obama’s
second term. Born in Cuba and raised mostly in Los Angeles, Mayorkas’s experience navigating the politics of
immigration enforcement and border security could be an asset to Biden if
the issue remains a topic of intense partisan focus. Mayorkas’s
nomination could run into trouble over a 2015 report by the inspector general
faulting him for inappropriately helping several companies obtain
employment visas. Mayorkas refuted those
findings.
CNN Mayorkas
was deputy secretary of Homeland Security during the Obama administration,
and served as the director of the Department of Homeland Security's United
States Citizenship and Immigration Services. While at USCIS, Mayorkas oversaw the implementation of the Deferred
Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which was an executive action under
Obama that protected young undocumented immigrants who came to the US as
children from deportation. President Donald Trump moved to end the Deferred
Action for Childhood Arrivals program in 2017 and was ultimately blocked by
the Supreme Court from doing so.
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Monaco
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WashPost Monaco is a former federal prosecutor who served
as White House homeland security adviser during President Obama’s second
term. Picking her for the secretary job would allow the president-elect to
send a clear signal about shifting the department’s focus back to
counterterrorism and domestic violent extremism. Monaco has been an adviser
to the Biden campaign.
CNN Monaco played a
critical role in Biden's vice presidential selection committee, and served
as Homeland Security and counterterrorism advisor to Obama. Prior to that
job, Monaco served as an assistant attorney general for national security
at the Department of Justice, and was a chief of staff to then-Director of
the FBI Robert S. Mueller III.
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DEPERTMENT of NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE
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Cardillo
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FP Another career professional, Cardillo has spent 35 years working in the intelligence
community including as deputy director of the Defense Intelligence Agency.
Most recently, he served as the director of the National
Geospatial-Intelligence Agency from 2014 to 2019. Cardillo
was one of 780 retired national security officials who signed a letter
in support of Biden’s candidacy.
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Gordon
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SUSAN M. GORDON: Ms. Gordon was a
principal deputy director of national intelligence in the Trump
administration, a post from which she resigned in 2019 after the president
did not promote her to director of national intelligence. Ms. Gordon began
her intelligence career nearly 40 years ago as an analyst at the C.I.A.,
rising to senior executive positions at the agency. (Ms. Gordon has also
been mentioned as a possible C.I.A. director.)
FP A career CIA officer who has spent nearly four
decades working in intelligence, Gordon is widely respected by both
Republicans and Democrats. “Sue Gordon has had every experience necessary
to lead the intelligence community,” said Carmen Medina, the former CIA
deputy director of intelligence. “She’s inspired other people, which is the
sign of a great leader.” Gordon served as the No. 2 at the Office of the
Director of National Intelligence and was expected to take over the top job
after Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats announced his stepping
down in July 2019, but after being passed over for the job, Gordon turned
in her resignation letter, which was accompanied by a handwritten note that
said she was leaving out of “patriotism, not preference,” adding that the
president should have his “team.”
USA Today SUSAN
M. GORDON: Ms. Gordon was a principal deputy director of
national intelligence in the Trump administration, a post from which she
resigned in 2019 after the president did not promote her to director of
national intelligence. Ms. Gordon began her intelligence career nearly 40
years ago as an analyst at the C.I.A., rising to senior executive positions
at the agency. (Ms. Gordon has also been mentioned as a possible C.I.A.
director.)
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Monaco
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The top adviser on
homeland security to Mr. Obama, Ms. Monaco has had a long and varied
government career. At the Justice Department, she was an assistant attorney
general for national security and served as chief of staff to the former
F.B.I. director Robert Mueller. She has longstanding ties to Mr. Biden,
having worked during the 1990s on his Senate Judiciary Committee staff,
where she helped craft the Violence Against Women Act.
FP
The onetime chief counterterrorism and homeland security advisor to Obama
is a contender for a few roles, including the director of national
intelligence. Monaco has long-standing ties to the president-elect, having
worked on Biden’s Senate Judiciary Committee staff in the 1990s. Prior to
her tenure in Obama’s White House, she spent 15 years at the Justice
Department as a federal prosecutor and as counsel and chief of staff at the
FBI. From 2011 to 2013, she was the assistant attorney general for national
security—the first ever woman to serve in that position. (Sort of like Judi Dench - as M in the
James Bond movies… not cat… DJI)
USA
Today LISA MONACO: The top
adviser on homeland security to Mr. Obama, Ms. Monaco has had a long and
varied government career. At the Justice Department, she was an assistant
attorney general for national security and served as chief of staff to the
former F.B.I. director Robert Mueller. She has longstanding ties to Mr.
Biden, having worked during the 1990s on his Senate Judiciary Committee
staff, where she helped craft the Violence Against Women Act.
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DEPARTMENT of DEFENSE
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Duckworth
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A former Army lieutenant
colonel who lost both legs when her helicopter came under fire in Iraq in
2004, Ms. Duckworth, a senator from Illinois, was an assistant secretary of
veterans affairs during the Obama administration.
She was among women considered as Mr. Biden’s running mate. If appointed,
she would become the first Thai-American cabinet member in addition to the
first woman in the role of defense secretary. (Ms. Duckworth has also been
mentioned as a potential secretary of veterans
affairs.)
USA Today TAMMY DUCKWORTH: A former
Army lieutenant colonel who lost both legs when her helicopter came under
fire in Iraq in 2004, Ms. Duckworth, a senator from Illinois, was an
assistant secretary of veterans affairs during the Obama administration.
She was among women considered as Mr. Biden’s running mate. If appointed,
she would become the first Thai-American cabinet member in addition to the
first woman in the role of defense secretary. (Ms. Duckworth has also been
mentioned as a potential secretary of veterans
affairs.)
Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., is a member of the
Armed Services Committee and an Army National Guard veteran who lost her
legs when her helicopter was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade in Iraq.
Duckworth, whose mother is from Thailand, was assistant secretary of veterans affairs in the Obama administration. If
appointed, she would be the first Asian American woman named Secretary
of Defense.
FoxNews
Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois is also mentioned as a possible
candidate for defense secretary. The Iraq War veteran, who earned a Purple
Heart after she was injured when her helicopter was hit by enemy fire, was
considered to be on Biden’s shortlist for a running mate. Duckworth, who
ultimately lost both of her legs to her war injuries, served as director of
the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs and later as assistant
secretary of Veterans Affairs during the Obama administration
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Flournoy
|
Ms. Flournoy, a former
deputy assistant secretary of defense, is regarded as the leading choice
for this job. Ms. Flournoy, who would be the first woman in this role, has
advised Mr. Biden’s campaign on defense issues and is regarded as highly
qualified. Her industry ties — she serves on the board of the defense
contractor Booz Allen Hamilton — could annoy progressives.
USA
Today MICHÈLE A. FLOURNOY Ms.
Flournoy, a former deputy assistant secretary of defense, is regarded as
the leading choice for this job. Ms. Flournoy, who would be the first woman
in this role, has advised Mr. Biden’s campaign on defense issues and is
regarded as highly qualified. Her industry ties — she serves on the board
of the defense contractor Booz Allen Hamilton — could annoy progressives
USA Today Michele Flournoy, is a former
undersecretary of defense in the Obama administration who served under
Robert Gates and Leon Panetta. She is co-founder and managing partner of WestExec Advisors and co-founded the think tank Center
for a New American Security, where she serves on the board. If appointed,
she would be the first woman named Secretary of Defense.
WashPost Flournoy worked in the Defense Department under
both Presidents Clinton and Obama, heading the department's policy
operation during the Obama years. She was also considered for a senior role
by Trump’s first defense secretary, Jim Mattis.
If nominated, she's expected to easily be confirmed and would become the
first woman to serve as Secretary of Defense.
Guardian UK Rice is a
longtime state department official who went on to serve stints as
ambassador to the United Nations and national security adviser to President
Barack Obama. More recently, she made it through several rounds of the
vetting process to be Biden’s running mate before the former vice-president
picked Kamala Harris. Rice has been mentioned for multiple high-profile
foreign policy and defense jobs.
CNN If chosen and
confirmed, Flournoy would be the first female secretary of defense.
Flournoy served as the under secretary of defense for policy under Obama.
Prior to her confirmation, Flournoy helped lead Obama's transition team at
the Defense Department. During the mid-1990's, Flournoy served as principal
deputy assistant secretary of defense for strategy and threat reduction, as
well as deputy assistant secretary of defense for strategy. She co-founded
the Center for a New American Security, a bipartisan think tank, and WestExec Advisors, a strategic advisory firm. Flournoy
was a senior advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
FoxNews
Michele Flournoy, a former undersecretary of defense in the Obama
administration, appears to be a leading contender. She is cofounder of the
centrist think tank Center for a New American Security.
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Johnson
|
Mr. Johnson is a former
secretary of homeland security who previously served as general counsel at
the Pentagon. He would be the first Black secretary of defense. His
membership on the board of the defense contractor Lockheed Martin could be
a sticking point for progressives. (Mr. Johnson has also been mentioned as
a candidate for attorney general and director of national intelligence.)
USA Today JEH JOHNSON: Mr. Johnson is a
former secretary of homeland security who previously served as general
counsel at the Pentagon. He would be the first Black secretary of defense.
His membership on the board of the defense contractor Lockheed Martin could
be a sticking point for progressives. (Mr. Johnson has also been mentioned
as a candidate for attorney general and director of national intelligence.)
WashPost A former homeland security secretary in the Obama
administration, Johnson also served as the top lawyer in the Pentagon, and
earlier in his legal career he worked as a federal prosecutor in New York
City. Johnson’s name has also been mentioned as a possible pick for
attorney general. If nominated and confirmed, he would be the first African
American to head the Defense Department.
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McRaven
|
WashPost McRaven spent over
three decades in the Navy. He served as head of Special Operations Command
from 2011 to 2014 and oversaw the raid that killed Osama bin Laden. McRaven has been an outspoken critic of President
Trump.
Friedman, nyt: “Finally, I am asking William H. McRaven, the retired Navy admiral who commanded the
U.S. Special Operations Command from 2011 to 2014 and oversaw the 2011 Navy
SEAL raid that killed Osama bin Laden, to be my defense secretary. Admiral McRaven, more than any other retired military officer,
has had the courage and integrity to speak out against the way President
Trump has politicized our intelligence agencies.
Only last week, McRaven wrote an essay in The Washington Post decrying
Trump’s firing of Joe Maguire as acting director of national intelligence —
the nation’s top intelligence officer — for doing his job when he had an
aide brief a bipartisan committee of Congress on Russia’s renewed efforts
to tilt our election toward Trump.
“Edmund Burke,” wrote McRaven, “the Irish statesman and philosopher, once
said: ‘The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to
do nothing.’”
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Reed
|
DOD FoxNews Sen. Jack Reed of
Rhode Island, a West Point grad who served in the Army’s 82nd Airborne
Division, is also mentioned. Reed, who was also a professor at the U.S.
Military Academy, is the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services
Committee
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Sanders
|
DoD AOC
via Daily News Bernie
Sanders, who one Twitter user wanted to see as the next Secretary of
Defense. Others saw Sanders taking on an economics role.
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DEPARTMENT of EDUCATION
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Garcia
|
A former teacher and
former president of the National Education Association, a labor union, Ms.
Eskelsen García ran for Congress in Utah in 1998
and campaigned for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential race.
USA Today LILY ESKELSEN GARCÍA: A former
teacher and former president of the National Education Association, a labor
union, Ms. Eskelsen García ran for Congress in
Utah in 1998 and campaigned for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential
race.
WashPost García recently stepped
down as president of the National Education Association, the nation’s
largest union. Before that, she was an elementary school teacher. She is
friendly with incoming first lady Jill Biden, who is a community college
teacher and member of the NEA.
USA Today Lily Garcia, former head of the
National Education Association whose mother is from Panama. She serves on
the president's advisory commission on educational excellence for Hispanics
and is a board member of the Economic Policy Institute. If appointed,
she would be the first Latina named Secretary of Education.
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Hayes
|
WashPost Hayes, elected in 2018, is the first Black woman
to represent Connecticut in Congress. She sits on the Committee on
Education and Labor and has sponsored some higher education measures.
Before that, she was the 2016 National Teacher of the Year.
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Thurmond
|
WashPost Thurmond is California’s state superintendent,
where he has pushed for educational equity, a goal Biden shares. In 2018,
the Los Angeles Times endorsed Thurmond, saying he has “an unwavering
commitment to at-risk students and a deep understanding of the obstacles
they face.”
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Warren
|
AOC via Daily News pundit Anna Gifty
had a plan to put the former teacher in charge of education.
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Weingarten
|
Randi
Weingarten, is the head of the
American Federation of Teachers. She personally endorsed Sen. Elizabeth
Warren during the Democratic primary but organized virtual campaign
events for Biden.
WashPost Weingarten is president of the American
Federation of Teachers, the second largest teacher union. She previously
served as president of the union representing teachers in New York City,
and was a high school teacher in Brooklyn. Nominating a labor leader could
be seen as an affront to those who favor teacher evaluations and other
test-based accountability measures.
Weingarten is the
president of the American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO and has long
pushed for education reform. Prior to holding that role, she was the
president of the United Federation of Teachers, AFT Local 2. Weingarten
served on an education reform commission put together by New York Gov.
Andrew Cuomo. She also chaired New York City's Municipal Labor CommitteeMs. Weingarten, president of the American
Federation of Teachers, is a former Brooklyn public high school teacher who
previously served as president of the United Federation of Teachers.
USA
Today RANDI WEINGARTEN: Ms.
Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, is a former
Brooklyn public high school teacher who previously served as president of the
United Federation of Teachers
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Yang
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DJI – Why not? He knows math. That leaves just readin’
and ritin’ for a co-chair!
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DEPARTMENT of
ENERGY
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Inslee
|
After failing to gain traction
in his presidential bid — in which climate change was his primary focus —
Mr. Inslee was easily re-elected to a third term as Washington’s governor.
Environmental activists are promoting his name, pointing to his plan to
close U.S. coal plants by 2030 and reach net-zero emissions by 2045. (Mr.
Inslee has also been promoted for appointment as secretary of the interior
or head of the Environmental Protection Agency.)
USA Today JAY INSLEE: After failing to
gain traction in his presidential bid — in which climate change was his
primary focus — Mr. Inslee was easily re-elected to a third term as
Washington’s governor. Environmental activists are promoting his name,
pointing to his plan to close U.S. coal plants by 2030 and reach net-zero
emissions by 2045. (Mr. Inslee has also been promoted for appointment as
secretary of the interior or head of the Environmental Protection Agency.)
CNN Inslee is the governor
of Washington state, and previously served in the US House of
Representatives. He was a Democratic presidential candidate in the 2020
election. Inslee is dedicated to addressing climate change and other
environmental issues, and made the environment the central focus of his
2020 presidential bid. While in the US House of Representatives, he served
on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and on the House Select
Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming.
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Majumdar
|
WashPost A professor of mechanical engineering at
Stanford, Majumdar served as the first director
of the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy. The office, which is an
incubator for nascent energy technologies, has enjoyed bipartisan support
in Congress, which may bode well for his chances of being confirmed by the
Senate.
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Montz
|
A nuclear physicist, Mr.
Moniz served in the Obama administration as energy secretary, a job that
largely involves managing the country’s nuclear arsenal. He played a
critical role in negotiating technical details of the Iran nuclear deal.
Since leaving the administration, he has been chief executive of the
Nuclear Threat Initiative, which works to prevent nuclear, biological and
cyber attacks.
USA Today ERNEST MONIZ: A nuclear
physicist, Mr. Moniz served in the Obama administration as energy
secretary, a job that largely involves managing the country’s nuclear
arsenal. He played a critical role in negotiating technical details of the
Iran nuclear deal. Since leaving the administration, he has been chief
executive of the Nuclear Threat Initiative, which works to prevent nuclear,
biological and cyber attacks.
WashPost
Known for his eye-catching hair, Obama's former energy secretary played an
important role hammering out the details of the nuclear weapons deal with
Iran. Though Trump abandoned the deal, Biden wants to rejoin it. A nuclear
physicist and Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor, he
informally advised the Biden team during the campaign
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Reicher
|
WashPost Now at Stanford, Reicher
has had several roles at the Energy Department, including chief of staff, assistant
secretary at the energy efficiency and renewable energy office, and head of
Obama's Energy Department transition team. He also once led climate and
alternative energy initiatives at Google and helped raise money for Biden
during the campaign.
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Sherwood-Randall
|
Ms. Sherwood-Randall is a
professor at Georgia Tech who served in the Obama administration as deputy
secretary of energy, where she managed the National Nuclear Security
Administration and 17 federal laboratories. She also served as a White House
adviser on weapons of mass destruction and arms control. During the Clinton
administration, she worked as deputy assistant secretary of defense for
Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia.
USA Today ELIZABETH
SHERWOOD-RANDALL: Ms. Sherwood-Randall is a professor at Georgia
Tech who served in the Obama administration as deputy secretary of energy,
where she managed the National Nuclear Security Administration and 17
federal laboratories. She also served as a White House adviser on weapons
of mass destruction and arms control. During the Clinton administration,
she worked as deputy assistant secretary of defense for Russia, U WashPost This former deputy energy secretary under
Obama was once a Rhodes Scholar and is now a professor at Georgia Tech.
Under Bill Clinton, she also served as deputy assistant secretary of
defense for Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia. Ukraine and Eurasia.
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
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Ali
|
WashPost Also an executive at the National Wildlife Federation,
Ali made headlines shortly after Trump took office for resigning from his
post as an EPA assistant associate administrator. He left with more than
two decades of experience at the EPA, having worked in both Democratic and
Republican administrations and helped create the agency's environmental
justice office in the early 1990s. Environmentalists say picking him makes
sense for an administration aiming to tackle the disproportionate impact
poor and minority communities face from air and water pollution.
Sunrise — Mustafa Ali,
vice president of environmental justice, climate and community
revitalization for the National Wildlife Federation, for administrator of
the Environmental Protection Agency
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Esty
|
WashPost Though now an academic with appointments at
Yale's forestry, law and business schools, Esty
once served as commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Energy and
Environmental Protection. There he helped launch a first-in-the-nation
“green bank” for promoting clean energy. Biden has proposed creating a
similar institution nationwide.
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Nichols
|
WashPost Besides running the EPA's Southeast office under
Obama, she was also the first female and African-American mayor of
Greenville, Miss. Now a senior director at the Moms Clean Air Force, she
has spoken out against the Trump administration's rejection of stricter air
quality standards during the pandemic in which the coronavirus attacks the
lungs.
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O’Mara
|
WashPost Unlike the leaders of other some environmental groups,
O'Mara, head of the National Wildlife Federation, has worked with both
Democrats and Republicans to advance habitat conservation efforts in
Congress. He also, crucially, has ties to Biden's home state; O'Mara is
said to have been the nation's youngest state Cabinet official in 2009 when
he ran the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental
Control. That happens to be same Cabinet in which Biden's late son Beau
served as attorney general.
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Revesz
|
WashPost Revesz is considered one
of the foremost legal minds in environmental law. Originally from
Argentina, he has spent most of his career in academia. But he has managing
experience, having served as dean of the NYU law school from 2002 to 2013.
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Toney
|
WashPost Besides running the EPA's Southeast office under
Obama, she was also the first female and African-American mayor of
Greenville, Miss. Now a senior director at the Moms Clean Air Force, she
has spoken out against the Trump administration's rejection of stricter air
quality standards during the pandemic in which the coronavirus attacks the
lungs.
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FEDERAL BUREAU of INVESIGATION
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Wray
|
Breitbart
The FBI agents’ association has has
publicly called on the next president to keep Wray on the job —
after he failed to stop Antifa from trashing the
nation’s cities, or to uproot politicization within the agency.
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PROPOSED
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GUN CZAR
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O’Rourkc
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Breitbart
Biden promised O’Rourke he would run gun control in his potential
administration. O’Rourke favors the confiscation of firearms from
law-abiding Americans: “Hell yes, we’re going to take your AR-15.”
“Hell
yea!” Roberto will be going door to door collecting the people’s guns! In
return for a copy of his “Cult of the Dead Cow” CD = DJI
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DEPARTMENT of HEALTH and HUMAN SERVICES
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Cohen
|
As the secretary of North
Carolina’s Health and Human Services Department, Dr. Cohen is known for her
ambitious effort to transform the way the state pays for health care. A
physician, Dr. Cohen served as the chief operating officer at the Centers for
Medicare and Medicaid Services in the Obama administration.
USA Today MANDY COHEN: As the secretary
of North Carolina’s Health and Human Services Department, Dr. Cohen is
known for her ambitious effort to transform the way the state pays for
health care. A physician, Dr. Cohen served as the chief operating officer
at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in the Obama
administration.
WashPost Secretary of the North Carolina Department of
Health and Human Services
Cohen is an alumna of the Obama administration,
having been hired in 2013 as a senior adviser in HHS’s Centers for Medicare
and Medicaid Services and becoming the agency’s chief of staff. In 2017,
she became North Carolina’s top health official. Since then, she has worked
on plans to upgrade Medicaid — including by integrating physical and mental
health care — and health conditions for young children. Cohen is trained as
an internal medical physician and teaches in the department of health
policy and management at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's
School of Public Health.
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Grisham
|
MICHELLE LUJAN GRISHAM: Ms.
Lujan Grisham, the governor of New Mexico and a former member of Congress,
also previously served as cabinet secretary for New Mexico’s departments of
health and aging. Ms. Lujan Grisham who was among those considered for Mr.
Biden’s running mate, was recently appointed as one of five co-chairs of
Mr. Biden’s transition team. (Ms. Lujan Grisham also has been mentioned as
a possible interior secretary.)
USA Today MICHELLE LUJAN GRISHAM: Ms.
Lujan Grisham, the governor of New Mexico and a former member of Congress,
also previously served as cabinet secretary for New Mexico’s departments of
health and aging. Ms. Lujan Grisham who was among those considered for Mr.
Biden’s running mate, was recently appointed as one of five co-chairs of
Mr. Biden’s transition team. (Ms. Lujan Grisham also has been mentioned as
a possible interior secretary.)
WashPost Grisham has been the governor of New Mexico since
2019. She also served in the U.S. House from the state's First District and
as New Mexico secretary of health from 2004 to 2007. On Nov. 13, she
ordered a statewide two-week shutdown to help bring coronavirus cases under
control. She has won praise from many Democratic leaders for her
health-care policy background and her handling of the state's coronavirus
outbreak, and was the only Latina on Biden's shortlist of potential running
mates over the summerUSA Today New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham,
whom Biden considered as vice president previously was a state Cabinet
secretary for the Department of Aging and Long-term Services from 2002 to
2004 and the Department of Health from 2004 to 2007. If appointed, she
would be the second Latina named Secretary of Health and Human
Services.
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Jayapal
|
Sunrise — Rep. Pramila Jayapal of
Washington, a co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, for
secretary of health and human services
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Kessler
|
A former commissioner of
the Food and Drug Administration, Dr. Kessler, a physician, was credited
with tackling the tobacco industry and helping speed approval of more than
a dozen drugs to treat H.I.V. In doing so, he worked closely with Dr.
Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious
disease expert.
USA Today DAVID KESSLER: A former
commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, Dr. Kessler, a physician,
was credited with tackling the tobacco industry and helping speed approval
of more than a dozen drugs to treat H.I.V. In doing so, he worked closely
with Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top
infectious disease expert.
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Murthy
|
VIVEK MURTHY One of Mr. Biden’s top
advisers on the coronavirus, Dr. Murthy is a former surgeon general and an
outspoken advocate of more stringent gun control.
USA Today Vivek Murthy, a trustee of the Rand
Corp. and health adviser to Biden's campaign. Murthy, was surgeon
general during the Obama administration. If appointed, he would be the
first person of South Asian descent to be named Secretary of Health
and Human Services.
WashPost Murthy is co-chair of President-elect Biden’s
Covid-19 advisory board and was one of the public health experts who
briefed Biden frequently about the pandemic during the campaign. Murthy
became the 19th U.S. surgeon general at the end of 2014, slightly more than
a year after his nomination by President Barack Obama. His nomination had
been held up in the Senate for just over a year, largely because of his
view that gun violence poses a public health threat. During his tenure, he
issued a landmark report on drug and alcohol addiction, calling it “a moral
test for America,” and placing it among reports his predecessors had
produced to draw attention to other major public health threats, such as
tobacco use, AIDS, the need for physical activity. Since leaving the
government, he has written and spoken out about loneliness. He was a vice
admiral in the U.S. Public Health Service’s commissioned corps and is
trained in internal medicine
USA Today VIVEK MURTHY One of Mr.
Biden’s top advisers on the coronavirus, Dr. Murthy is a former surgeon
general and an outspoken advocate of more stringent gun control.
Guardian UK A former
surgeon general of the United States and a regular participant in
discussion groups and policy advising for the Biden campaign, Dr Murthy was
recently appointed as a co-chair of Biden’s Covid-19 advisory board, a
lofty position for an incoming administration that is prioritizing a new
response to Covid-19.
CNN
Murthy, a doctor of internal medicine, is the co-chair of Biden's
coronavirus advisory board. He previously served as the US surgeon general
after being nominated by Obama. He resigned in April 2017 at the request of
the Trump administration. He was confirmed by the Senate after facing
opposition from Senate Republicans for calling to treat gun violence
as a public health issue.
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Pressley
|
AOC via Daily News Pressley
(D-Mass.) would handle Health and Human Services in her best-case scenario.
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DEPARTMENT of HOMELAND SECURITY
|
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Demings
|
Ms. Demings,
a member of Congress from Florida, is a former Orlando police chief with a
27-year career in law enforcement. She was among the women considered by
the Biden team as a running mate.
USA Today VAL DEMINGS: Ms. Demings, a member of Congress from Florida, is a former
Orlando police chief with a 27-year career in law enforcement. She was
among the women considered by the Biden team as a running mate.
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Mayorkas
|
A Cuban-American lawyer,
Mr. Mayorkas was responsible for running
Citizenship and Immigration Services at the department under Mr. Obama. He
also served as a federal prosecutor in central California. Under Mr. Obama,
Mr. Mayorkas was regarded as instrumental in
negotiating a memorandum of understanding with Cuba.
USA Today ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS: A
Cuban-American lawyer, Mr. Mayorkas was
responsible for running Citizenship and Immigration Services at the
department under Mr. Obama. He also served as a federal prosecutor in
central California. Under Mr. Obama, Mr. Mayorkas
was regarded as instrumental in negotiating a memorandum of understanding
with Cuba.
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DEPARTMENT of HOUSING and URBAN DEVELOPMENT
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Bass
|
Ms. Bass, a longtime
member of Congress from California, chairs the Congressional Black Caucus. A
community organizer before she entered politics, she is well-versed on the
housing challenges facing her South Los Angeles district. She was among the
women Mr. Biden considered as his running mate. (A physician assistant by
training, Ms. Bass has also been mentioned as a potential secretary of
health and human services.)
USA Today KAREN BASS: Ms. Bass, a
longtime member of Congress from California, chairs the Congressional Black
Caucus. A community organizer before she entered politics, she is
well-versed on the housing challenges facing her South Los Angeles
district. She was among the women Mr. Biden considered as his running mate.
(A physician assistant by training, Ms. Bass has also been mentioned as a
potential secretary of health and human services.)
WashPost Bass is a fifth-term California congresswoman
representing south Los Angeles. She currently heads the Congressional Black
Caucus and serves on the House Committee of Foreign Affairs.
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Brown
|
A
former mayor of Jacksonville, Fla., Mr. Brown was an adviser to Andrew
Cuomo during his tenure as secretary of housing and urban development,
worked on the Clinton-Gore transition team, and served at the Commerce
Department during the Clinton administration
USA
Today ALVIN BROWN: A
former mayor of Jacksonville, Fla., Mr. Brown was an adviser to Andrew
Cuomo during his tenure as secretary of housing and urban development
during the Clinton Administration, worked on the Clinton-Gore transition
team, and served at the Commerce Department during the Clinton administration.
WashPost Brown served in various roles during the Clinton
administration across the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, and Housing
and Urban Development, including as adviser to then-secretary Andrew Cuomo.
Most recently Brown was a staffer on the Biden campaign.
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Jones, M
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Mr. Jones, a top deputy at
the department during the Obama administration, he currently runs the Local
Initiatives Support Corporation, a financial institution that makes loans
and provides grants to assist underserved communities. Mr. Jones also
served as Virginia’s secretary of commerce under Gov. Terry McAuliffe.
USA Today MAURICE JONES: Mr. Jones, a top
deputy at the department during the Obama administration, he currently runs
the Local Initiatives Support Corporation, a financial institution that
makes loans and provides grants to assist underserved communities. Mr.
Jones also served as Virginia’s secretary of commerce under Gov. Terry
McAuliffe.
WashPost Jones served as the deputy undersecretary of HUD
from 2012 to 2014 and as Virginia's commerce secretary under Gov. Terry
McAuliffe. He currently runs Local Initiatives Support Corporation, which
offers community development loans, grants and investments.
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Lance-Bottoms
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The mayor of Atlanta, Ms.
Bottoms has been a campaign surrogate for Mr. Biden and was among the women
he considered as a running mate. Ms. Bottoms has made affordable housing a
priority, proposing a $1 billion public-private initiative to improve
access to housing in Atlanta.
WashPost Bottoms was an early supporter of Biden's 2020
presidential run and served as a surrogate for him on the trail. She was
elected mayor of Atlanta in 2017 after serving on city council for eight
years. Ms. Yentel leads the National Low Income
Housing Coalition, a Washington-based nonprofit group that successfully
opposed many of Mr. Trump’s proposed cuts to federal housing programs. Before joining Atlanta politics, she was
a prosecutor and magistrate judge.
CNN Bottoms is the mayor
of Atlanta and is a rising star of the Democratic Party. Bottoms stepped
into the national spotlight when she denounced vandalism in her city as
"chaos" after demonstrations over the death of George
Floyd, a Black man who was killed by police in Minneapolis. Bottoms is
a former judge and city council member. She was considered as a potential
running mate for Biden.
Breitbart
Atlanta’s mayor pushed for COVID shutdowns to continue, even
after the state began reopening. Like Castro, she has been floated by The
Atlantic for a housing post.
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Tlaib
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Sunrise — Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan,
one of the four congresswomen known as the Squad, for secretary of housing
and urban development
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Yentel
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USA Today DIANE YENTEL: Ms. Yentel leads the National Low Income Housing Coalition,
a Washington-based nonprofit group that successfully opposed many of Mr.
Trump’s proposed cuts to federal housing programs.
WashPost Yentel served as
director of the public housing management and occupancy division at HUD
during the Obama administration. She currently leads the National Low
Income Housing Coalition, an affordable housing advocacy group, and has
been an outspoken critic of Trump's HUD.
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DEPARTMENT of the INTERIOR
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Bullock
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The governor of Montana, Mr.
Bullock recently lost a close Senate race to Steve Daines,
a Republican incumbent. Mr. Bullock has been active in
environmental issues: In 2014, he signed an executive order creating a
habitat for sage grouse, and as state attorney general, he wrote an opinion
guaranteeing access to public lands.
USA Today STEVE
BULLOCK: The governor of Montana, Mr. Bullock recently lost a close
Senate race to Steve Daines, a Republican
incumbent. Mr. Bullock has been active in environmental issues:
In 2014, he signed an executive order creating a habitat for sage grouse,
and as state attorney general, he wrote an opinion guaranteeing access to
public lands.
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Haaland
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USA Today DEB HAALAND: Indigenous
groups are also promoting Representative Haaland
of New Mexico, a member of the Laguna Pueblo tribe. The Interior Department
presides over millions of acres held in trust as tribal land. Ms. Haaland serves as vice chairwoman of the House Natural
Resources Committee.
WashPost Of the New Mexicans being considered for the job,
the congresswomen from the state's 1st Congressional District has the least
experience in Congress, being first elected in 2018. But picking her would
be historic. Haaland, an enrolled member of the
Pueblo of Laguna, would be the first Native American to run the department
charged with overseeing federal and tribal lands.
CNN Haaland
is a congresswoman from New Mexico, and is one of the first Native American
women to serve in Congress. Biden has said he wants an administration that
looks like the country. Haaland, the vice chair
of the House Natural Resources Committee, would be the first Native
American Cabinet secretary if she were to get an offer and accept it. Haaland also leads the Subcommittee on National Parks,
Forests and Public Lands.
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Heinrich
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Yet another New Mexico
resident mentioned for the interior job, Senator Heinrich, an avid
outdoorsman, has promoted the idea of developing a national outdoor
recreation plan using federal lands.
USA Today MARTIN HEINRICH: Yet another
New Mexico resident mentioned for the interior job, Senator Heinrich, an
avid outdoorsman, has promoted the idea of developing a national outdoor
recreation plan using federal lands.
A WashPost member of the
Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, New Mexico's other senator
is also a proponent of clean energy and public land protections. One
complicating factor for any of the state's Cabinet hopefuls: If New Mexico
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) becomes health and human services
secretary, that might give Biden's team pause about elevating another New
Mexican to the Cabinet. Too many New Mexicans in the Government?!? - DJI
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Udall
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A New Mexico senator who
decided not to run for a third term, Mr. Udall has fought to protect
federal property from oil and gas drilling and has promoted the designation
of wilderness areas in New Mexico. If Mr. Udall is picked, he will be
keeping up a family tradition: His father, Stewart Udall, served as
interior secretary during the Kennedy and Johnson administrations.
USA Today TOM UDALL: A New Mexico
senator who decided not to run for a third term, Mr. Udall has fought to
protect federal property from oil and gas drilling and has promoted the
designation of wilderness areas in New Mexico. If Mr. Udall is picked, he
will be keeping up a family tradition: His father, Stewart Udall, served as
interior secretary during the Kennedy and Johnson administrations.
WashPost
The senator from New Mexico is retiring from Congress his year, but has
said he would consider joining the Biden administration. In recent years,
Udall has been a loud advocate for conserving 30 percent of U.S. lands and
waters by the end of the decade and funding the Land and Water Conservation
Fund. The choice would also be a nostalgic one; his father, Stewart Udall,
was secretary of the department from 1961 to 1969 under two Democratic
presidents
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DEPARTMENT
of LABOR
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Harris
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Mr. Harris, a former
deputy labor secretary who served as acting secretary in 2013, also advised
the Obama administration on legislation before the Senate. A lawyer, he is
a fellow at Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations.
USA Today SETH HARRIS: Mr. Harris, a former
deputy labor secretary who served as acting secretary in 2013, also advised
the Obama administration on legislation before the Senate. A lawyer, he is
a fellow at Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations.
WashPost Harris, a deputy labor secretary under President Barack
Obama, wrote a paper in 2015 arguing that gig workers should not be
entitled to the full benefits and protections afforded to regular
employees, an issue that is likely to dominate labor debates in the coming
years.
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Levin
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The Michigan congressman is
a former labor organizer for the Service Employees International Union and
later the A.F.L.-C.I.O., where he was assistant director of organizing. He
also worked as a staff lawyer in the Labor Department.
USA Today ANDY LEVIN: The Michigan
congressman is a former labor organizer for the Service Employees
International Union and later the A.F.L.-C.I.O., where he was assistant
director of organizing. He also worked as a staff lawyer in the Labor
Department.
WashPost The Democratic congressman from Michigan has
union ties that run deep: He worked as an organizer for the SEIU in the
1980s and later held a leadership position at the AFL-CIO. He is earning
praise from some unions and others who want the department to have a strong
pro-labor bent.
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Nelson
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CNN Nelson is the
international president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA. She
cemented her image as a rising star of the labor movement during a
prolonged government shutdown that stretched from December 2018 to January
2019. During the shutdown, Nelson appeared on cable television and used
social media to warn of the dangers of not paying airport workers, and
called for a general strike at an AFL-CIO gathering in January.
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Sanders
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The Vermont senator is
interested in serving as labor secretary, according to a person close to
him, and his camp and Mr. Biden’s team have been seriously discussing the
possibility since he withdrew from the presidential race in April. There is
no deal, and it is still unclear what role Mr. Sanders would play in a
Biden administration.
USA Today BERNIE SANDERS: The Vermont
senator is interested in serving as labor secretary, according to a person
close to him, and his camp and Mr. Biden’s team have been seriously
discussing the possibility since he withdrew from the presidential race in
April. There is no deal, and it is still unclear what role Mr. Sanders
would play in a Biden administration.
WashPost The former presidential candidate and de facto
leader of the left wing of the Democratic Party keeps popping up in media
speculation about who will lead the Labor Department.
AOC
via Fox News – Sanders for Labor Secretary,
CNN Sanders
is reaching out to potential supporters in labor to ask for their
support as he mounts a campaign for the job. But he is viewed as a long
shot and so far has received mix reactions from labor leaders. In his
public comments before and after the election, he focused on a 100-day
agenda for the Congress. But with Democrats likely needing to win both
Georgia runoffs to take control of the Senate, running a powerful agency
might have become more appealing.
Sanders told CNN's Wolf
Blitzer on Wednesday that if Biden asked him to join his Cabinet as Labor
secretary, he would accept the nomination. "If I had a portfolio that
allowed me to stand up and fight for working families, would I do it? Yes,
I would," Sanders said.
Breitbart
The socialist who honeymooned in the “workers’ paradise” of the Soviet
Union is angling to be in charge of workers in the United States.
Sanders believes government should guarantee everyone a job.
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Su
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Ms. Su is the secretary of
California’s Labor and Workforce Development Agency and a former California
labor commissioner. She is an expert on workers’ rights and a past
recipient of a MacArthur “genius” grantUSA Today JULIE SU: Ms. Su is the secretary
of California’s Labor and Workforce Development Agency and a former
California labor commissioner. She is an expert on workers’ rights and a
past recipient of a MacArthur “genius” grant.
WashPost
Su has been a MacArthur Foundation “genius” grant recipient and hailed for
her work on labor issues in the state
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Walsh
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WashPost Walsh, who got his union card in 1988 when he
joined Laborers Local 223, has a long history in organized labor, most
recently as the head of Boston Building Trades before he became mayor. He
reportedly has a strong relationship with Joe Biden.
CNN Walsh is AFL-CIO
President Richard Trumka's pick for the job, a
big endorsement in what could soon turn into a contentious debate between
moderate Democrats and progressives, who will favor Sen. Bernie Sanders or
Michigan Rep. Andy Levin. Walsh grew up in a union family and became a top
Boston labor leader before being elected mayor.
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NATIONAL
ECONOMIC COUNCIL
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Stigletz
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Sunrise — Economist Joseph
Stiglitz for director of the National Economic
Council
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NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR
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Blinken
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An aide to Mr. Biden on
the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Mr. Blinken
has served as Mr. Biden’s top foreign affairs adviser. He served as deputy
secretary of state during the Obama administration, as well as deputy
national security adviser. More recently, he has been managing director of
the Penn Biden Center, an international policy center at the University of
Pennsylvania. He has also been a contributing opinion writer for The New
York Times.
USA
Today ANTONY BLINKEN: An
aide to Mr. Biden on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Mr. Blinken has served as Mr. Biden’s top foreign affairs
adviser. He served as deputy secretary of state during the Obama
administration, as well as deputy national security adviser. More recently,
he has been managing director of the Penn Biden Center, an international
policy center at the University of Pennsylvania. He has also been a
contributing opinion writer for The New York Times.
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Donilon
|
Breitbart Donilon, who once held the post under Obama, saw
“America building bigger, better relationships with China and India,”
according to the Washington Post, describing the “Donilon Doctrine.”
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PRESS
SECRETARY
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Sanders, S
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Before joining the Biden campaign, Sanders was a
political analyst and commentator. She served as national press secretary
for Sen. Bernie Sanders's 2016 presidential run. She would be the first
African American to hold the job.
WashPost2
Before joining the Biden
campaign, Sanders was a political analyst and commentator. She served as
national press secretary for Sen. Bernie Sanders's 2016 presidential run.
She would be the first African American to hold the job.
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From DJI:
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There are literally dozens of respected
print, TV and radio journalists who would be useful candidates, why not one
of them?
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SECRETARY of STATE
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Blinkin
|
WashPost Blinken is a longtime
Biden confident and former deputy secretary of state during the Obama
administration from 2015 to 2017. Blinken has
decades of experience in Congress and worked closely with then-Vice
President Biden as deputy national security adviser from 2013 to 2015.
Blinken is another veteran of the Obama administration’s
foreign-policy team and has been one of Biden’s closest advisors and
confidants going back to his time in the Senate. Blinken
served in the National Security Council during the Clinton administration
and then as a senior staff member on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee
while Biden, then a Delaware senator, served as chairman of the committee.
He was an important figure in Obama’s foreign-policy team, serving as
deputy national security advisor and then deputy secretary of state. Blinken is viewed by Democratic insiders as a more
centrist pick for secretary of state. Other people close to the Biden
campaign expect him to be tapped as national security advisor, not
secretary of state, given his close personal relationship with Biden.
FoxNews Anthony Blinken,
Obama’s deputy secretary of state and deputy national security adviser who
served as a top Biden campaign adviser.
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Burns
|
Mr. Burns, president of
the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, is a retired foreign
service officer and former ambassador to Russia and Jordan. A former deputy
secretary of state and special assistant to Secretaries Warren Christopher
and Madeleine Albright, he is also a contributing writer at The Atlantic.
USA Today WILLIAM J. BURNS: Mr. Burns,
president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, is a retired
foreign service officer and former ambassador to Russia and Jordan. A
former deputy secretary of state and special assistant to Secretaries
Warren Christopher and Madeleine Albright, he is also a contributing writer
at The Atlantic.
FoxNews
William Burns, a veteran Foreign Service officer who served as deputy
secretary of state in the Obama administration
WashPost
Burns is a legendary former diplomat who held numerous senior positions
over 33 years at the State Department. He attained the highest rank in the
Foreign Service, career ambassador. He was ambassador to Russia and Jordan,
and deputy secretary of state in the Obama administration. He speaks
Russian, Arabic and French. Since retiring from the State Department in
2014, he has been president of the Carnegie Endowment for International
Peace.
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Coons
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A leading member of the
Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Mr. Coons hails from Mr. Biden’s home
state and is one of his closest friends. Mr. Coons would most likely be
easily confirmed because of his collegial relations with Senate
Republicans. One downside: Mr. Coons could be invaluable to Mr. Biden as a
steward of his agenda on Capitol Hill.
USA Today Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., is
an adviser to Biden who serves on the Foreign Relations Committee.
CNN Coons currently
occupies the same Delaware Senate seat that Biden held for decades. A
longtime Biden ally, Coons was one of the first members of Congress to
endorse the former vice president when he declared his 2020 presidential
candidacy. Coons sits on the following committees in the Senate: Foreign
Relations, Appropriations, Judiciary, Small Business & Entrepreneurship
and Select Committee on Ethics. Throughout his Senate career, Coons has
been known for working across the aisle and forging strong relationships
with high-profile Republicans who shared common interests.
USA Today: A leading member of the
Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Mr. Coons hails from Mr. Biden’s home
state and is one of his closest friends. Mr. Coons would most likely be
easily confirmed because of his collegial relations with Senate
Republicans. One downside: Mr. Coons could be invaluable to Mr. Biden as a
steward of his agenda on Capitol Hill.
FoxNews Democratic Sens. Chris Coons of
Delaware FoxNewsF Chris Murphy of Connecticut are
also mentioned.
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Dillon
|
WashPost O'Malley Dillon became Biden's campaign manager
earlier this year, stepping onboard as the team retooled after struggling
in the early nominating contests. A veteran of Barack Obama's 2012
reelection run, she managed former congressman Beto
O'Rourke's unsuccessful Democratic presidential bid in 2019.
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Flournoy
|
Breitbart
Flournoy, an establishment figure, has cashed in on her past
service in Democratic administrations, while organizing a
divisive effort among former national security officials to oppose Trump.
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Lee
|
Sunrise Rep. Barbara Lee of California for
secretary of state
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Khanna
|
Sunrise
Rep. Ro Khanna for secretary of state.
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Rice
|
A former national security
adviser, Ms. Rice was among the small group of women Mr. Biden considered
for his running mate. Ms. Rice is a former assistant secretary of state and
United Nations ambassador, and she is viewed as a leading expert on Africa.
USA Today Susan Rice served as national
security adviser and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations in the Obama
administration. Biden already considered her as his running mate after
working with her in the White House. But Rice could face a rocky
confirmation in a closely divided Senate because of statements she made
after the 2012 attack on a U.S. Consulate in Libya. Republicans said she
misled the American public about the nature of that attack, which left U.S.
Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans dead. If
appointed, she would be the second Black woman to be named Secretary of
State.
Guardian UK Rice is a
longtime state department official who went on to serve stints as
ambassador to the United Nations and national security adviser to President
Barack Obama. More recently, she made it through several rounds of the
vetting process to be Biden’s running mate before the former vice-president
picked Kamala Harris. Rice has been mentioned for multiple high-profile
foreign policy and defense jobs.
FoxNews Susan Rice, who served as national security
adviser and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under Obama, is
considered a strong contender to serve as America’s top diplomat. She was
considered earlier this year as Biden’s running mate. But she could face a
rough time in a GOP-controlled Senate over her comments in the immediate
aftermath of the 2012 attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, that
left Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans dead.
State
USA Today SUSAN RICE: A former national
security adviser, Ms. Rice was among the small group of women Mr. Biden
considered for his running mate. Ms. Rice is a former assistant secretary
of state and United Nations ambassador, and she is viewed as a leading
expert on Africa.
CNN Rice served in the
Obama administration as UN ambassador and national security adviser. She
served in Clinton's administration as the special assistant to the
president and senior director for African affairs at the White House, the
assistant secretary for the Bureau of African Affairs at the State
Department and the director of international organizations and peacekeeping
at the National Security Council. Rice was one of a handful of women on
Biden's shortlist for a running mate.
Rice at one point was
thought to be the clear choice to succeed Hillary Clinton as secretary of
state, but in 2012 withdrew her name from consideration to avoid
a bitter Senate confirmation battle. Rice was the target of Republican
criticism after comments she made on Sunday morning TV shows defending the
Obama administration's handling of the September 11, 2012, attacks on the
Benghazi consulate that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other
Americans.
FP Rice, once a top contender for Biden’s running
mate, has been a mainstay in Democratic foreign-policy circles since the
Clinton administration. During the Obama administration, she served as U.S.
ambassador to the United Nations during President Barack Obama’s first term
and then as national security advisor for much of his second term. Rice was
in the running to replace Hillary Clinton as secretary of state but
withdrew her name from consideration following the controversies
surrounding the 2012 Benghazi terrorist attacks. Democratic foreign-policy
insiders describe her as a top pick for secretary of state but concede she
could face a difficult confirmation process if Republicans retain control
of the Senate.
State
Breitbart From the Rwandan genocide to the
Benghazi terror attack, America’s worst diplomat is gunning for
the job that has eluded her for her entire career. The richest member of
the Obama administration, she serves on the board of Netflix, which faces
criminal charges for distributing Cuties, a French film that
sexualizes preteen girls.
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Romney
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Also mentioned, not always kindly.
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STAFF (beneath Mister K.)
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Donilon
|
WashPost2 Donilon is a
veteran political strategist who has advised the president-elect for nearly
four decades, including during Biden's previous stint in the Obama White
House.
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Richetti
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WashPost Ricchetti is one of
Biden's most trusted strategists and served as his chief of staff when
Biden was vice president. He was a liaison to the Senate under Bill
Clinton. Outside of government service he worked as a registered lobbyist.
WashPost2 Ricchetti
served as Biden's chief of staff during the Obama administration from 2013
to 2017 and was a liaison to the Senate under Bill Clinton. He spent years
working as a registered lobbyist.
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Richmond
|
WashPost Richmond is one of Biden's most prominent African
American allies. He was an early supporter of Biden who frequently
campaigned for him and appeared on television on his behalf. Richmond is
said to be close with Rep. James E. Clyburn (D-S.C.). Clyburn's support
helped Biden win the South Carolina primary, a victory which eased his way
to the nomination.
WashPost2 Richmond has been as a congressman since
2011 and recently served as chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus.
He's expected to be offered an influential role in the White House and has
advocates including Biden ally Rep. James E. Clyburn (D-S.C.).
CNN A co-chair of Biden's transition team and
presidential campaign, the Democratic congressman from Louisiana is thought
to be under consideration for several roles in the West Wing. Richmond
previously served as the chairman of the influential Congressional Black
Caucus.
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Sullivan
|
WashPost2 Sullivan served as Biden's national
security adviser during the Obama years and was a senior policy adviser to
Hillary Clinton during her 2016 presidential campaign.
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SECRETARY of TRADE
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Buttigieg
|
Breitbart Buttigieg, a McKinsey consulting alumnus with close
ties to Wall Street and Silicon Valley, opposed Trump’s tariffs
on China and suggested the president never should have stood up
to China on trade.
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SECRETARY
of TRANSPORTATION
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Garcetti
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The Los Angeles mayor has
promoted the use of public transportation during his administration,
purchasing a clean-air bus fleet and proposing fare-free bus and train
rides. He has also released a plan to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025.
USA Today ERIC GARCETTI: The Los
Angeles mayor has promoted the use of public transportation during his
administration, purchasing a clean-air bus fleet and proposing fare-free
bus and train rides. He has also released a plan to eliminate traffic
deaths by 2025.
USA Today Eric Garcetti is
the mayor of Los Angeles and co-chairman of Biden's vice presidential
search committee. If appointed, he would be the third Latino man
named Secretary of Transportation.
WashPost Garcetti has been the mayor
of Los Angeles since 2013 and served as a co-chair of President-Elect
Biden’s campaign. In LA, he has overseen an expansion of the notoriously
gridlocked city’s metro system.
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Garcia
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Sunrise — Rep. Chuy García of Illinois for
secretary of transportation
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Musk
|
Why not, if he’ll
take the pay cut - DJI
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Wang
|
AOC via Daily News Secretary of
Transportation. That role is currently held by Elaine Chao, who is married
to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
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SECRETARY of the TREASURY
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Bostic
|
The first African-American
and the first openly gay man to lead a regional Federal Reserve bank, Mr.
Bostic is president of the Atlanta Fed. He previously worked as an
economist for the Federal Reserve and served as a board member at Freddie
Mac. Mr. Bostic is known for his argument that systemic racism damages the
overall economy. No Black person has ever filled the job of Treasury
secretary.
USA Today RAPHAEL BOSTIC: The first
African-American and the first openly gay man to lead a regional Federal
Reserve bank, Mr. Bostic is president of the Atlanta Fed. He previously
worked as an economist for the Federal Reserve and served as a board member
at Freddie Mac. Mr. Bostic is known for his argument that systemic racism
damages the overall economy. No Black person has ever filled the job of
Treasury secretary.
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Brainard
|
USA Today Lael Brainard, is
a governor at the Federal Reserve who served in both the Obama and Clinton
administrations.
FoxNews Federal Reserve Governor Lael
Brainard may be the consensus candidate.
Guardian UK One of the
cabinet positions under the most intense scrutiny is the secretary of the
treasury. Progressives hope the Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren or
former deputy treasury secretary Sarah Bloom Raskin
could take the helm. But competing interests, such as the banking community
and the Congressional Black Caucus, have put forth names as well. Brainard is something of a consensus candidate. She
isn’t unpalatable to too many competing organizations and her credentials
as a former treasury department official and member of the Federal Reserve
board of governors make her a competitive candidate.
Treas A member of
the Federal Reserve Board of Governors and a former under secretary at the
Treasury Department, Ms. Brainard has
voted against regulatory rollbacks and has warned that the economic risks
caused by the coronavirus are not over. She has also urged the Fed to focus
on climate change and its impact on the economy. Ms. Brainard
is regarded as a moderate, and she has been criticized from the left for
her reluctance to take a hard line on currency manipulation while at
Treasury.
WashPost Brainard is a Federal
Reserve governor who served as a senior Treasury Department official in the
Obama administration. She has broad policymaking experience, particularly
during economic crises, as well as wide respect among international foreign
ministries and central banks from her time as the department’s top
diplomat. If nominated and approved, she would be the first female Treasury
secretary.
CNN Brainard currently
serves as a member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.
She previously served as the Under Secretary of the US Department of the
Treasury and counselor to the secretary of the Treasury during the Obama
administration. Brainard was the US
representative to the G-20 Finance Deputies and G-7 Deputies and was a
member of the Financial Stability Board. During the Clinton
administration, Brainard served as the deputy
national economic adviser and deputy assistant to the President. She also
served as Clinton's personal representative to the G-7/G-8. If chosen, the
Federal Reserve governor would be the first woman to hold the powerful
position. Brainard is not quite a consensus pick.
Party progressives have other favorites, but neither would her nomination
set off the kind of internal ideological war the incoming administration
surely wants to avoid.
USA Today LAEL BRAINARD: A member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors
and a former under secretary at the Treasury Department, Ms. Brainard has voted against regulatory rollbacks
and has warned that the economic risks caused by the coronavirus are not
over. She has also urged the Fed to focus on climate change and its impact
on the economy. Ms. Brainard is regarded as a
moderate, and she has been criticized from the left for her reluctance to
take a hard line on currency manipulation while at Treasury.
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Ferguson
|
WashPost Ferguson is currently the president and CEO of
TIAA-CREF and on the board of corporations including Alphabet and General
Mills. He was vice chairman of the Federal Reserve and a governor on the
board under the Clinton administation. Under
Obama, he served on the Jobs and Competitiveness and the Economic Recovery
Advisory Board. If nominated and approved, he would be the first African
American to serve as secretary.
FoxNews Former Federal Reserve Vice Chair Roger Ferguson
– who’s the chief executive of Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association
of America – and investor Mellody Hobson – would
bring diversity to Treasury. But progressives would decry their ties to the
corporate world.
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Raskin
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Sarah
Bloom Raskin, served as deputy Treasury Secretary in the Obama
administration, is a former member of the Board of Governors of the Federal
Reserve System, and previously served as Maryland’s commissioner of
financial regulation. Currently, she is a visiting professor at Duke
University and is a lawyer. If appointed, she would be the first woman
named Treasury Secretary.
A former deputy Treasury
secretary and a former member of the Fed’s Board of Governors, Ms. Raskin also previously served as Maryland’s
commissioner of financial regulation. She is a lawyer and a visiting
professor at Duke University.
Sunrise
Sarah Bloom Raskin, who served as deputy
secretary of the Treasury under Obama, for Treasury secretary;
CNN Raskin
was the deputy secretary of the US Department of the Treasury during the Obama
administration. She was previously a governor of the Federal Reserve Board.
Prior to joining the Federal Reserve Board, Raskin
was the commissioner of financial regulation for the state of Maryland.
Outside of Sen. Elizabeth
Warren, Raskin, a former deputy secretary at the
department, would be the top choice for most progressives. That she is less
well known to the wider political world could also work in favor.
USA Today SARAH BLOOM RASKIN: A former
deputy Treasury secretary and a former member of the Fed’s Board of
Governors, Ms. Raskin also previously served as
Maryland’s commissioner of financial regulation. She is a lawyer and a
visiting professor at Duke University.
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Sanders
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Only in (liberal)
candy-coloured dreams and conservative
nightmares. DJI
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Warren
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A favorite of progressive
groups, the Massachusetts senator, presidential candidate and former Obama
adviser has spent her career advocating for pro-consumer financial reforms
and stronger banking regulation. She spearheaded the creation of the Consumer
Financial Protection Bureau, a federal watchdog agency, and was among those
considered as Mr. Biden’s running mate. Given her progressive positions,
Ms. Warren’s confirmation might not be assured in a Senate controlled by
Republicans.
AOC
via Daily News Warren as Treasury
Secretary
AOC
via Fox News Warren, D-Mass., as
Treasury Secretary,
FoxNews
Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts battled Biden during the
Democratic nomination race. But the progressive champion and former Harvard
law professor has a history of fighting for the working class and taking
aim at the big banks and corporations. But a GOP-controlled Senate or even
a 50/50 chamber could make a Warren nomination a nonstarter.
Breitbart
The radical Senator who campaigned against the financial system wants
to run it. Warren proposed a wealth tax, but her campaign fell apart when
it became clear she needed middle-class taxes, too
USA
Today ELIZABETH WARREN: A
favorite of progressive groups, the Massachusetts senator, presidential
candidate and former Obama adviser has spent her career advocating for
pro-consumer financial reforms and stronger banking regulation. She
spearheaded the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a
federal watchdog agency, and was among those considered as Mr. Biden’s
running mate. Given her progressive positions, Ms. Warren’s confirmation
might not be assured in a Senate controlled by Republicans.
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Yellin
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Well known because of her
high-profile service as chair of the Federal Reserve from 2014 to 2018, Ms.
Yellen was also president of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco and
chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers under President Bill
Clinton. She is a labor economist who believes that government regulation
and intervention are required to ensure that markets run efficiently.
USA Today Janet Yellen was the chair of
the Federal Reserve from 2014 to 2018. She previously was the chair of the
White House Council of Economic Advisers under the Clinton administration.
She is considered a top contender, according to Bloomberg. If appointed,
she would be the first woman named Treasury Secretary.
USA Today JANET L. YELLEN: Well known
because of her high-profile service as chair of the Federal Reserve from
2014 to 2018, Ms. Yellen was also president of the Federal Reserve Bank of
San Francisco and chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers
under President Bill Clinton. She is a labor economist who believes that
government regulation and intervention are required to ensure that markets
run efficiently.
WashPost Yellen was a Federal Reserve governor under both
the Clinton and Obama administrations. She was the first female chair of
the Fed, serving from 2014 to 2018. Yellen's term as chair was marked by
lowering unemployment, record highs in the stock market and low inflation.
Despite this, she was the first Fed chair not to be reappointed after
serving a first full term. If nominated and approved, she would be the
first female Treasury secretary.
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UNITED NATIONS AMBASSADOR
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Burns
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FP
Burns, a former career diplomat, served in the senior ranks of the George
W. Bush administration as U.S. ambassador to NATO and undersecretary of
state for political affairs. Burns has been an advisor to Biden’s
foreign-policy campaign and has long-standing connections with Blinken, another one of Biden’s top campaign
aides.
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Buttigieg
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PETE BUTTIGIEG: Mr. Buttigieg,
the former mayor of South Bend, Ind., and a Democratic presidential
candidate, is a former Navy officer who served in Afghanistan. As one of
only two candidates for the Democratic nomination with military experience,
Mr. Buttigieg, who is gay, was endorsed by a
progressive group of veterans, VoteVets. (Mr. Buttigieg has also been mentioned as ambassador to the
United Nations.)
CNN Buttigieg
is the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, and a former 2020
Democratic presidential candidate. Buttigieg's
presidential bid was historic -- he was the first out gay man to launch a
competitive campaign for president, and he broke barriers by becoming the
first gay candidate to earn primary delegates for a major party's
presidential nomination.
FP Many Democratic Party members
see Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend,
Indiana, as having a bright political future ahead of him after his rise to
national prominence as a Democratic presidential contender in the 2020
primaries. Democratic foreign-policy insiders said Buttigieg,
a Rhodes scholar and military veteran, is a strong contender for U.N.
ambassador despite his relative lack of experience in Washington
foreign-policy making because of his clout in the party and effective
communication skills. If Buttigieg were eventually
nominated and confirmed by the Senate for the post, he would be the first
openly gay U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
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Ocasio-Cortez
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“I
am asking Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to serve as our U.N. ambassador.
Can you imagine how our international standing would improve with youth
worldwide with her representing next-gen America? = Thomas Friedman, NYT
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Sherman
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FP Sherman, a Harvard Kennedy School professor, is
a former senior diplomat in the Obama administration who served as undersecretary
of state for political affairs, the third-ranking official at the State
Department. During her time in that position, from 2011 to 2015, she played
an integral role in crafting and implementing the Iran nuclear deal, which
Trump has since abandoned. Biden has pledged to restore U.S. commitments to
the nuclear deal once in office, making Sherman’s expertise, contacts, and
institutional knowledge with the deal potentially invaluable, though the
deal will be tough to resuscitate.
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Thomas
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FP Thomas-Greenfield is another experienced former
senior career foreign service officer who served as director-general of the
foreign service and assistant secretary of state for African affairs. Since
leaving the department in 2017, she has been a vocal proponent of reforming
the State Department and improving its diversity while criticizing the
Trump administration for mismanagement and marginalizing career experts at
the department. Thomas-Greenfield is leading Biden’s agency review team for
the State Department that will lay the groundwork for the transition in
January. When she left in 2017, she was the highest-ranking African
American woman in the State Department.
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VETERANS’ ADMINISTRATION
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Buttigieg
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Mr. Buttigieg,
the former mayor of South Bend, Ind., and a Democratic presidential
candidate, is a former Navy officer who served in Afghanistan. As one of
only two candidates for the Democratic nomination with military experience,
Mr. Buttigieg, who is gay, was endorsed by a
progressive group of veterans, VoteVets. (Mr. Buttigieg has also been mentioned as ambassador to the
United Nations.)
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McDonald
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A former veterans affairs secretary during the Obama
administration, Mr. McDonald could be making a return to his old job. An
Army veteran and a former chief executive of Procter & Gamble, during
his administration he placed an emphasis on reducing homelessness among
veterans.
USA
Today ROBERT A. McDONALD:
A former veterans affairs secretary during the Obama administration, Mr. McDonald
could be making a return to his old job. An Army veteran and a former chief
executive of Procter & Gamble, during his administration he placed an
emphasis on reducing homelessness among veterans
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In yet another wild week of a wild
year… perhaps not the wildest, but definitely the sickest (new cases, deaths,
you know), let’s go back to the basics (Camus and DeFoe…
in whose “Journal of the Plague Year” we take notice of the
government-mandated shutdowns and the reactions of the people for their take
on the plague and the growing spectacle of re-lockdowns and (sometimes) armed
popular resistance. Its
nothing new, in fact or fiction, murderously rampant in 1665 London, less so
in 1947 Algeria. But in both those
instances, pandemic fatigue was starting to set in by the onset of winter,
even though the Oran bubonic nightmare would start to fizzle out within
months, while the rats responsible for London’s disease would be burnt up by
the Great Fire of 1666. So, without
even one of the competing vaccines, we might get lucky. Or not.
Anyway, here’s what happened
between…
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