Biden Administration to Mirror Diversity
Democratic President-elect Joe Biden said he has promised to build an administration that reflects the diversity of the country. In the next few weeks, he will announce his choices for some key White House posts.
On Tuesday, November 17th, Biden named several new members to his senior team. Below are some recent key picks and top contenders for important positions, according to Reuters reporting.
Biden Top Pick: Secretary of State
Chris Coons is a Democratic U.S. senator from Delaware. It is Biden’s home state. He is a close Biden friend and adviser who is a prominent member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He will get an easy path to confirmation from his Senate colleagues.
Biden Administration Chooses Treasury Secretary
Lael Brainard is a member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governor. She is a former undersecretary for international affairs. This was occuring during the 2009 global financial crisis. Brainard has voted against regulatory rollbacks on banks. Yet she is said to face criticism from liberals who want a less moderate choice.
Biden Administration: Potential Defense Secretary
Michele Flournoy is the consensus front-runner for the job. It would make her the first woman to lead the Pentagon. Moreover, she served as a top Defense Department official in the Bill Clinton and Barack Obama administrations. However, she has also advised Biden’s campaign on defense issues. In addition, Flournoy co-founded a consulting firm with Antony Blinken, one of Biden’s top advisers.
Attorney General
Sally Yates is a former deputy attorney general. In addition, she briefly acted as an attorney general early in Trump’s term. This was before being fired for insubordination. It occurred as a result of refusing to defend travel restrictions targeting seven Muslim-majority nations.
Energy Secretary
Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall is a former adviser to Biden when he worked in the U.S. Senate. In addition, she served in the Obama administration as deputy secretary of energy. This is where she led an initiative to address cyber and physical challenges to the power grid. In addition, Sherwood-Randall is now a professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Environmental Protection Agency
Heather McTeer Toney is a former regional administrator of the EPA under Obama. In addition, the clean-air activist is the national field director for Moms Clean Air Force. A favorite of progressives, she has advocated and trained diverse officials on leadership and climate in over 15 countries including Kenya, France, Portugal, Nigeria, and Senegal.
Central Intelligence Agency
Michael Morell is the CIA’s deputy director and acting director of the agency twice under Obama. Moreover, he is now the chairman of the geopolitical risk practice at Beacon Global Strategies, a Washington consulting firm.
Homeland Security
Alejandro Mayorkas is a Cuban-American lawyer. Mayorkas would be the first Latino to head the department. Moreover, as head of Citizenship and Immigration Services under Obama, he led the implementation of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA) for so-called Dreamers. In addition, they were brought to the United States illegally as children. Therefore, DACA drew Republican criticism. In addition, it would lead to Republican opposition in the Senate if he is nominated.