United States: Joe Biden’s cabinet begins to take shape

The composition of the president’s cabinet has always struggled with its lack of diversity. Joe Biden, president-elect of the United States, wants to understand this. The Democrat could form the most diversified cabinet in the history of the country, entrusting important portfolios such as the Treasury and Defense to women.

Joe Biden, president-elect of the United States, was invited to get to work as soon as possible. Face more challenges than any other leader in the country’s modern history: a pandemic that has claimed the lives of more than a quarter of a million Americans; an economy which, while recovering slowly, has many deep wounds; an unprecedented environmental emergency; a divided nation full of inequality and injustice and many of the historical diplomatic ties are dying.

The first step for Biden to start his cycle and address all crises was to form a government that would meet the immediate needs of the nation. This, in turn, should allow it to convey unity and project the foundations of what the Democratic Party will be in the future.

For Biden it is not simply a matter of executing a plan in four years, but of consolidating a whole new generation of leadership that accompanies him and that would also work with his formula, Kamala Harris, who is projected as a Democratic presidential candidate in 2024 for this reason, the president-elect has recruited officials who will enable him to form one of the most diverse cabinets in the history of the country.

“As he did during his transition campaign, Joe Biden will intentionally seek different voices to develop and implement his political vision to address our nation’s toughest challenges,” Cameron French, Biden’s transition spokesperson, told Vox. .

Diversity is essential. As Lindsay M. Chervinsky, author of The Cabinet: George Washington and the Making of an American Institution explains, the Cabinet is a thread that has held the nation together since its inception. “Washington used its cabinet and other federal appointments to build emotional bonds between citizens and the new government. He knew that if people felt represented in the administration, they would be more likely to support them. Washington also wanted to serve all Americans, not just Virginians, and as a result sought different opinions, ”Chervinsky wrote in the Washington Post.

But the composition of the cabinet has always had problems of diversity. It took women and African Americans decades to reach these positions and reach leadership positions. Biden has the opportunity to change that model and pay off an historic debt. Your early announcements indicate that you are on the right track. She named the first female head of the Treasury Department and could also appoint the first female head of the Department of Defense, which, Chervinsky notes, “would be a particularly powerful statement as the military faces increasing reports of sexual harassment and violence. “.

Biden’s first dossier is fundamental: Antony Blinken, called to be his secretary of state, had previously worked with the Democrat during the Barack Obama administration, and is known for his multilateral policies, which is why he would have tried to strengthen the trade union ties with the country’s main allies mainly in Europe and also in Latin America. It will undoubtedly be a key player in one of the hottest and most dramatic issues in the region: the crisis in Venezuela.

In the past, Blinken has said that he expects a peaceful and democratic change in the Miraflores Palace, but that doesn’t mean he disagrees with the sanctions issued to the Nicolás Maduro club. As will happen with Cuba, the dissolution of relations between these two countries will have no price. Here, it should be noted, Biden also appointed Alejandro Mayorkas to the Department of Homeland Security. If accepted by the Senate, Mayorkas, of Cuban descent, would become the first Latin to head this department.

Blinken could also restore the United States to a leading role in international forums, from which the current government has taken a damaging distance for the nation. His first tasks will be to ensure the country’s stay in the World Health Organization, as well as to ensure that the broken trust is rebuilt and reintegrate the country into the Paris Agreement, which Trump also abandoned.

And it is that climate change is a major concern of the Biden administration. And that’s why the president-elect has chosen former Secretary of State John Kerry as his special envoy for climate change issues, a nomination that has been welcomed from the outset by Paris Agreement members and organizations. environmentalists, such as Kerry Era in France five years ago to help negotiate this treaty.

“The world has been looking for a sign that the Biden administration will make climate change the focus of US foreign policy. Kerry’s appointment as the Presidential Special Envoy for Climate Change is a clear sign of how much you might want, ”said Nat Keohane, senior vice president and chief climate officer for the Environmental Defense Fund.

Kerry’s call to join Biden’s team makes one thing very clear to the world: the environmental emergency is now a national security issue for the United States. His task will not only be to repair the cracks left by Trump, but to carry out a new commitment even more ambitious than the one signed in 2015 to reduce global carbon emissions.

Biden’s selection had been underway for weeks before the general election, and the names have changed a lot since then. Many of the president-elect’s rivals in the Democratic primary were running for office in the next administration. It was speculated that former Indiana mayor Pete Buttigieg would be the next ambassador to the United Nations. It was not like this. Biden selected Linda Thomas-Greenfield for this position. She is a career diplomat who will seek to overthrow Trump’s “America First” foreign policy.

But Buttigieg is still up for other government jobs, as Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs, where Army veterans Robert McDonald, Patrick Murphy, Jason Kander and Senator Tammy Duckworth also play.

Other Biden rivals in the running for the Democratic nomination who are still awaiting a call are Senator Elizabeth Warren and Senator Bernie Sanders. The day before Biden got his win in Pennsylvania, Warren indicated that he wanted to be the Secretary of the Treasury Department. This wallet ended up being occupied by a woman, but it wasn’t Warren. Janet Yellen was selected by Biden for this position on Monday, becoming the first woman to fill this position. The decision was made to maintain a balance in the democratic ranks, which, after the elections, showed divisions. Indeed, Warren hailed and praised Yellen’s appointment.

“As the most successful Fed chairman in history, he stood up to the Wall Street banks, including Wells Fargo’s responsibility for deceiving working families,” tweeted the Massachusetts senator.

Warren’s appointment to this portfolio had many drawbacks. On the one hand, she is still a senator, which means that the governor of her state, Republican Charlie Baker, could nominate a replacement for her seat, who would be from the same party. Neither Biden nor the Democratic Party would like such an important state to have a Republican senator, even for a while. Furthermore, Warren’s ideology, which advocates for large-scale change, does not go hand in hand with what the president-elect wants. Nor would it be easy to get approval for his appointment to the Senate. Remember that many of Biden’s cabinet positions require upper house approval.

The other case is that of Senator Sanders, one of the key pieces of Biden’s victory in states like Michigan. The veteran senator from Vermont is considered to be filling Labor’s portfolio. He himself assured the Politico portal that he was interested in the position. However, if appointed, even his approval in the Senate would be difficult. Other names considered for the Secretary of the Department of Labor are Julie Su, secretary of the California Labor Development Agency, Andy Levin, congressman from Michigan, Bill Spriggs, economist and professor, and Sharon Block, director of the labor program at Harvard Law School.

In addition to the Department of Education and the Department of Labor, there are three other key positions in which Biden has not yet announced his candidate or candidate: Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, at which Vivek Murthy could be reached, former US surgeon general, or Michelle Lujan Grishman, current governor of New Mexico; the Secretary of the Department of Housing and Human Development, who could be joined by Alvin Brown, former Mayor of Jacksonville, Florida, House Representative, Karen Bass, or Mayor of Atlanta, Keisha Lance; and finally the Department of Justice, where Senator Doug Jones, former California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, or former California Department official Sally Yates, who was formerly the nation’s deputy attorney general during the administration, might arrive Barack Obama. .

These are the names of Biden’s cabinet confirmed so far:

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