The Biden Cabinet and Transition Thread (4 Viewers)

Devildog said:

James Mattis for SecDef. That would be petty enough to send Trump to the looney bin.

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He would know what damage needs to be fixed.

Xavier Becerra for attorney general. Highly qualified, first generation American of Mexican parents, and someone very respected. He would add to a diverse cabinet which I’m sure will be one of the things Biden will be putting together. The only question is will he do it? He has made no question his desire to be governor of California, and has also been kicked about as a replacement for Harris or to run 2 years from now to take over for Boxer, and as everyone knows a Democratic senator from California is a lifetime job.
I’d favor Mayor Pete as UN. He would be a clean slate, as other candidates have Iran nuclear deal or other Obama era things tied to them. With his military intelligence background I believe it would be a great choice.

Goatman saint said:

Xavier Becerra for attorney general. Highly qualified, first generation American of Mexican parents, and someone very respected. He would add to a diverse cabinet which I’m sure will be one of the things Biden will be putting together. The only question is will he do it? He has made no question his desire to be governor of California, and has also been kicked about as a replacement for Harris or to run 2 years from now to take over for Boxer, and as everyone knows a Democratic senator from California is a lifetime job.
I’d favor Mayor Pete as UN. He would be a clean slate, as other candidates have Iran nuclear deal or other Obama era things tied to them. With his military intelligence background I believe it would be a great choice.

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Pete was in military intelligence? That, I didn't know.

Devildog said:

James Mattis for SecDef. That would be petty enough to send Trump to the looney bin.

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Exactly what I was thinking.

The Biden/Harris team has launched a transition communication account.




Apparently they have already put together key transition teams, including on Covid and agency staffing. This process began before the election - because they're professionals who know how to do things.

GrandAdmiral said:

Considering my two decades' experience in higher ed administration, I nominate myself for Sec. of Education. Make it happen.

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My wife has been teaching for 25 years. Both you and she are orders of magnitude better and eminently more qualified than the swamp dreg who is currently the sec of education.

I want someone who looks like this running the Department of the Interior

GrandAdmiral said:

Pete was in military intelligence? That, I didn't know.

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From wiki

From 2009 to 2017, he was an intelligence officer in the United States Navy Reserve, attaining the rank of lieutenant. He was mobilized and deployed to Afghanistan for seven months in 2014.

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When deployed he was mostly dealing with disrupting terrorist finances and driving around the commander. He jokes and called himself the military Uber.

GrandAdmiral said:

My own cat has more sense than Betsy Devos, so I'm pretty sure yours does as well.

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And more experience in education than DeVos.

If we each took a position in the cabinet based on our occupations we'd all be much better qualified than the current occupants.

@superchuck500 for Atty General
@dtc for sec of labor

This is fun! Based on my 16 years as an OT and Director of Rehab, for Secretary of Health and Human Services I nominate...me. Alex Azar, the current HHS secretary (and former lobbyist and big pharma CEO swamp thing) is from my home town so it would be great fun to kick him out.

saintmdterps said:

This is fun! Based on my 16 years as an OT and Director of Rehab, for Secretary of Health and Human Services I nominate...me. Ales Azar, the current HHS secretary (and former lobbyist and big pharma CEO swamp thing) is from my home town so it would be great fun to kick him out.

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You, dtc and SC all have my vote!

saintmdterps said:

I want someone who looks like this running the Department of the Interior

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It will probably be someone with a strong environmental defense record. If also strong on indigenous issues, that would be appropriate too but I think environmental credentials will come first.

wardorican said:

McConnell reportedly eyes constraints on possible Biden cabinet picks

If Biden prevails, Mitch McConnell apparently expects to wield veto power over the next administration's cabinet choices.

www.msnbc.com

And this will be interesting.

Of course, the article does pose the question, if they'll go the 'acting route' like Trump has to bypass the Senate.

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Lindsey Graham has already gone on record and said that Biden "deserves" as POTUS to choose a cabinet. Of course, Graham also said that he wouldn't vote on a Supreme Court justice once the 2020 primaries began so his word is meaningless.

I kind of expect John Kasich to get some kind of position, possibly Chief of Staff since it's not technically a cabinet position and doesn't really have oversight over anything. The question is would Kasich want it because he'd get even more backlash from the GOP.

Other thoughts:

* I do think Doug Jones will get a position but he isn't high profile enough to be Attorney General. Perhaps head of the Civil Rights Division.

* I would not be surprised to see the Lincoln Project's George Conway given some kind of position. Trump apparently offered him the head of DOJ's Civil Division but he turned it down because he didn't want to be associated with the Trump administration. Also possible that Conway gets a judicial appointment depending on his social views.

* Similarly, perhaps Steve Schmidt (also with the Lincoln Project and former McCain advisor) for Press Secretary? Other possibilities along that line include Nicole Wallace or maybe... Meghan McCain! Way back when I always wanted George Carlin to be Press Secretary. Today the equivalent would be Dave Chapelle or... to a lesser extent... maybe a guy like John Steward or Lewis Black. Would absolutely love to see something like that but it's a pipe dream.

Overall theme is that I would not be surprised to see some moderate Republicans appointed to more 'ministerial' positions focused more on messaging than policy.

Oh... also... people suggesting Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. Will never happen unless the GOP governors of their respective states agree to appoint Democrat replacements. They will not give up votes in the Senate just to give people cabinet positions.

Re: GOP Senate obstructing cabinet positions. They won't have enough votes to pull that off. I don't see Lisa Murkowski or Mitt Romney stonewalling cabinet appointments. Same for a guy like Chuck Grassley. He could stonewall judicial appointments but not the cabinet. It would be beyond petty.

superchuck500 said:

It will probably be someone with a strong environmental defense record. If also strong on indigenous issues, that would be appropriate too but I think environmental credentials will come first.

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I was being somewhat tongue-in-cheek, but given Trump’s disastrous environmental record as opposed to Native American philosophy, I think you get where I’m coming from

Kasich won’t join the administration. He wants to run in 2024 and being in a Biden administration would kill his campaign before it began.

saintmdterps said:

This is fun! Based on my 16 years as an OT and Director of Rehab, for Secretary of Health and Human Services I nominate...me. Ales Azar, the current HHS secretary (and former lobbyist and big pharma CEO swamp thing) is from my home town so it would be great fun to kick him out.

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Based on my experience I want to be the drug czar.