The Biden Cabinet and Transition Thread (1 Viewer)

[GrandAdmiral]

Ok the rules:

• Your post can only contain one department and guess.
• You may post more than once for different departments.
• Post can contain comments about previous guesses.
• Guesses for one department can be used for other departments.
• Minds can, of course, be changed.

I will kick things off first...

Secretary of State: Susan Rice

This is as clear a choice as there can be. She has all of the credentials and rep to begin healing as relationships with our allies.

 

[wardorican]

Secret Service: we have one question for you Major.... who's a good boy?

Major: bark!

Secret Service: there you have it. He's a good boy. Case closed.

 

[Saint by the Bay]

I nearly fell out of my chair this morning when I heard Republicans are opposing Neera Tanden for OMB because of her mean Tweets about Republicans.

I mean, I know they have no shame and hypocrisy is an actual life choice for them, but really? Seriously? How can you even say that with a straight face after the last 4 years?

I am now one with Chuck Todd. He was just laughing about this same point. John Cornyn was on TV saying she has no chance of getting confirmed because of this. Chuck Todd was laughing saying after the last 4 years how can they expect to say that and not get laughed at?

Because their base will nod and agree, that's how. There are no political consequences for anything when your political party is a religion to its followers.

 

[zztop]

I nearly fell out of my chair this morning when I heard Republicans are opposing Neera Tanden for OMB because of her mean Tweets about Republicans.

I mean, I know they have no shame and hypocrisy is an actual life choice for them, but really? Seriously? How can you even say that with a straight face after the last 4 years?

I was reading about Tanden today, and how much republicans dislike her. I have no idea who the person is or why she is so reviled, but hey its republicans so it could just be that she is a non-white woman. Also blinding hypocrisy as MT15 noted:

“That was just an unforced error,” Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said Tuesday. He said that moving forward in future cases without weighing Republican sentiment was “a roll of the dice” that could cause unnecessary embarrassment to a nominee or to Biden’s White House.

Initially, Republicans suggested that they might not even take up Tanden’s nomination were it sent to the Senate. But Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio, who is poised to be the top Republican on one of the two committees that would oversee hearings for Tanden, said he believed she should receive one even if he was skeptical about her chances of confirmation.

“That’s our responsibility,” said Portman, who oversaw the budget office under President George W. Bush. “But it doesn’t mean she’ll get the votes.”

 

[DaveXA]

I'm a recent former Republican, and I honestly have no clue why they're so up in arms about Tanden. Idk why, but she seems like someone I'd want to have in my corner. The only thing I can think of is that it's the OMB, which carries a ton of weight in DC. It's one of the most influential offices and they're not opposing just Tanden necessarily, but rather by default, anyone chosen by Biden to lead the agency. They're just proving to their constituents that they're not gonna just let Biden have what he wants. In other words, it's just political theater.

Just my hunch anyway.

 

[wardorican]

I was reading about Tanden today, and how much republicans dislike her. I have no idea who the person is or why she is so reviled, but hey its republicans so it could just be that she is a non-white woman. Also blinding hypocrisy as MT15 noted:

“That was just an unforced error,” Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said Tuesday. He said that moving forward in future cases without weighing Republican sentiment was “a roll of the dice” that could cause unnecessary embarrassment to a nominee or to Biden’s White House.

Initially, Republicans suggested that they might not even take up Tanden’s nomination were it sent to the Senate. But Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio, who is poised to be the top Republican on one of the two committees that would oversee hearings for Tanden, said he believed she should receive one even if he was skeptical about her chances of confirmation.

“That’s our responsibility,” said Portman, who oversaw the budget office under President George W. Bush. “But it doesn’t mean she’ll get the votes.”

Sen. Cotton says Neera Tanden has no chance of being confirmed, tells Biden 'go back to the drawing board'

Neera Tanden has “no chance of being confirmed,” Sen. Tom Cotton said on Wednesday.

www.foxnews.com

So, what are her radical liberal ideas? (From the article)

 

[wardorican]

from USA Today.

Neera Tanden, Biden's pick for budget chief, defends progressive credentials, deletes old tweets

Several prominent Republican senators indicated Neera Tanden could face an "uphill battle" when she seeks confirmation.

www.usatoday.com

Many conservatives, who remember her as one of the architects of the Affordable Care Act, said they had no doubts about Tanden's liberal bona fides.

"Neera Tanden is a big-government, big-spending radical liberal who’s a terrible choice for OMB Director," tweeted Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla. "It’s just more proof that @JoeBiden and the Democrats will continue to move further and further to the Left."

Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., told The New York Times "she's not just a liberal ideologue, she’s a partisan activist who’s gone after senators of the majority party. She seems to have chosen a path that doesn’t lead to a senate confirmed office."

Sen. John Cornyn told reporters Tanden was Biden's "worst nominee so far" because of caustic tweets she had posted in the recent past.

Love these short loaded phrases that don't offer any specifics. Is she a big government, big spending radical liberal?

BTW, haven't Republicans been on a big spending spree, and tax cuts (to further the debt) lately? Even ignoring the cornavirus relief packages... there was absolutely no fiscal responsibility.

 

[insidejob]

fiscal responsibility

They're all choking on their fiscal responsibility right now.

 

[MT15]

Blinding hypocrisy from Rick Scott as well then. I wish I had a “shut the hell up” button.

 

[DaveXA]

Blinding hypocrisy from Rick Scott as well then. I wish I had a “shut the hell up” button.

Isn't that the mute button?

 

[Optimus Prime]

guess I'll put this here



....Your jaw has to drop at the utter absurdity of any Republican saying such a thing, particularly one who not only supported Trump with his opaque, byzantine business dealings around the world but voted for every one of Trump's corrupt Cabinet picks, including Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, who was just revealed to have remained on the board of a Chinese company up until last year.

Even more outrageous is Cornyn's opposition to Joe Biden's choice to head the Office of Management and Budget, Neera Tanden, supposedly because of her insulting tweets:



Here's another member of the Republican establishment weighing in on that "bad judgment":




Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio is also clutching his pearls over Tanden's "partisanship":

"I think it's very important to have someone who can work with both sides of the aisle," said Portman, who held the budget post under President George W. Bush. "She has a very liberal public record and a very partisan series of comments she's made."

That's right, the people who routinely say they don't read the president's outrageous tweets are now pretending to care about online civility. Moreover, they are complaining about "partisanship" when they all voted to confirm Mick Mulvaney, the onetime Tea Party congressman and founder of the House Freedom Caucus, which was so "partisan" it chased both John Boehner and Paul Ryan out of the speaker's chair and forced regular government shutdowns. (Mulvaney himself told the Washington Post that Tanden has no chance of confirmation.)..................

Are the Republicans just a pack of total shameless psychopaths?

Trump is still trying to steal the election — but Republicans are acting as if they never enabled this criminal

www.salon.com

 

[DaveXA]

guess I'll put this here



....Your jaw has to drop at the utter absurdity of any Republican saying such a thing, particularly one who not only supported Trump with his opaque, byzantine business dealings around the world but voted for every one of Trump's corrupt Cabinet picks, including Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, who was just revealed to have remained on the board of a Chinese company up until last year.

Even more outrageous is Cornyn's opposition to Joe Biden's choice to head the Office of Management and Budget, Neera Tanden, supposedly because of her insulting tweets:



Here's another member of the Republican establishment weighing in on that "bad judgment":




Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio is also clutching his pearls over Tanden's "partisanship":


That's right, the people who routinely say they don't read the president's outrageous tweets are now pretending to care about online civility. Moreover, they are complaining about "partisanship" when they all voted to confirm Mick Mulvaney, the onetime Tea Party congressman and founder of the House Freedom Caucus, which was so "partisan" it chased both John Boehner and Paul Ryan out of the speaker's chair and forced regular government shutdowns. (Mulvaney himself told the Washington Post that Tanden has no chance of confirmation.)..................

Are the Republicans just a pack of total shameless psychopaths?

Trump is still trying to steal the election — but Republicans are acting as if they never enabled this criminal

www.salon.com

Blinding hypocrisy is an apt description.

 

[J-DONK]

from USA Today.

Neera Tanden, Biden's pick for budget chief, defends progressive credentials, deletes old tweets

Several prominent Republican senators indicated Neera Tanden could face an "uphill battle" when she seeks confirmation.

www.usatoday.com

Love these short loaded phrases that don't offer any specifics. Is she a big government, big spending radical liberal?

BTW, haven't Republicans been on a big spending spree, and tax cuts (to further the debt) lately? Even ignoring the cornavirus relief packages... there was absolutely no fiscal responsibility.

Meh, she ran her mouth at conservatives, and progressives. She is a hardcore Clintonite, who absolutely hates Bernie.(Who is supposed to lead her confirmation) She was also around for the 2008 Clinton campaign that started the birther crap, and supposedly played a big part in that. She has such a low chance of getting confirmed. There is a theory she is being thrown out as a sacrificial lamb so Republicans get some air time rejecting one of Biden's picks.

FYI: She was pro social security cuts. She confessed to assault on a guy who became the Sander's campaign manager. She publicly outed a sexual assault victim at CAP.

She will never get confirmed, you shouldn't care if she does.

 

[GrandAdmiral]

I am a-ok with this...

Biden also said he has asked Dr. Anthony Fauci to be a chief medical adviser and part of his Covid-19 response team when his administration begins next year.

Biden said the conversation happened on Thursday afternoon. CNN reported earlier in the day that Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and a member of President Donald Trump's coronavirus task force, had a planned meeting with Biden's transition team.
Biden Transition

"I asked him to stay on the exact same role he's had for the past several presidents, and I asked him to be a chief medical adviser for me as well, and be part of the Covid team," Biden told Tapper.

CNN Exclusive: Biden says he will ask Americans to wear masks for the first 100 days he's in office | CNN Politics

President-elect Joe Biden told CNN’s Jake Tapper on Thursday that he will ask Americans to wear masks for the first 100 days after he takes office, in a sign of how Biden’s approach to the virus will be dramatically different from President Donald Trump’s response.

www.cnn.com

 

[GMRfellowtraveller]

im sure they're just running a benghazi - just banging on the drum long enough for someone else to pick up the sticks

BUT
my question is there any ability for receipts to come out in confirmation hearings? i don't imagine it would make much sense for the nominee to question the hypocrisy of the panel, but could one senator call out another for directly contradicting themselves in previous hearings?

 

[wardorican]

im sure they're just running a benghazi - just banging on the drum long enough for someone else to pick up the sticks

BUT
my question is there any ability for receipts to come out in confirmation hearings? i don't imagine it would make much sense for the nominee to question the hypocrisy of the panel, but could one senator call out another for directly contradicting themselves in previous hearings?

Senate rules of debate likely forbid it.

" 2. No Senator in debate shall, directly or indirectly, by any form of words impute to another Senator or to other Senators any conduct or motive unworthy or unbecoming a Senator.

3. No Senator in debate shall refer offensively to any State of the Union. "

 

[GrandAdmiral]

Anyone watch the interview with Biden and Harris on CNN. Very insightful (and normal).

Biggest takeaway for me is that Harris is going to be as active a VP as Biden was to Obama; probably more.

 

[GrandAdmiral]

Another expected announcement...

Biden to name California AG Becerra as HHS secretary

President-elect Joe Biden is expected to nominate California Attorney General Xavier Becerra to serve as the head of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), a person familiar with the de…

thehill.com

 

[JRad]

Secretary of Defense has been (potentially) picked

Biden picks retired general Lloyd Austin to run Pentagon

If confirmed, the retired general would become the first Black defense secretary.

www.politico.com