Let's speculate.... Who's going to be in Biden's cabinet

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One of the four big slots (State, DOJ, Defense, Treasury) is going to have to go to a person of color and another is going to have to go to a woman or POC Diversity is important to the Democrats, and even more important to the movers and shakers (Clyburn, Hispanic Caucus, Womans groups)

Blinken is at State. Yellen is at Treasury.

I like Lloyd Austin at Defense. Maybe Sally Yates at DOJ?

Yates would be a great choice, but there is concern about her getting through confirmation. Flournoy is more qualified than the other candidates for Sec Def, who don't really have strong policy chops, though it would be strange to have so many officials from West Exec. But maybe Flournoy and either Jeh Johnson or Deval Patrick for attorney general? Patrick seems like a great pick but I guess some are unhappy with him for his presidential nom run.

Wasn’t Doug Jones also being mentioned for AG?

Yes, and he'd be a great choice but heavy pressure on Biden for more diversity in his picks.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/03/politics/biden-diverse-cabinet-commitment/index.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lujan Grisham was offered Interior instead of HHS, and turned it down. Raimondo now a top contender for HHS. Given the pressure Biden is under to take diversity into account, and LG's excellent credentials, not sure what that is about.

Source?

CNN is reporting that Lujan Grisham is the top contender for HHS.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/02/politics/michelle-lujan-grisham-health-and-human-services/index.html

She was, she wasn't, now she might be again. This was discussed a page or two ago.

I find this so strange and wonder what’s really going on:
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/528700-hispanic-caucus-unhappy-with-transition-team-treatment-of-lujan

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One of the four big slots (State, DOJ, Defense, Treasury) is going to have to go to a person of color and another is going to have to go to a woman or POC Diversity is important to the Democrats, and even more important to the movers and shakers (Clyburn, Hispanic Caucus, Womans groups)

Blinken is at State. Yellen is at Treasury.

I like Lloyd Austin at Defense. Maybe Sally Yates at DOJ?

Yates would be a great choice, but there is concern about her getting through confirmation. Flournoy is more qualified than the other candidates for Sec Def, who don't really have strong policy chops, though it would be strange to have so many officials from West Exec. But maybe Flournoy and either Jeh Johnson or Deval Patrick for attorney general? Patrick seems like a great pick but I guess some are unhappy with him for his presidential nom run.

If they can smooth things over, I do like Patrick for AG. Here is the latest:
https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/04/politics/biden-attorney-general-search/index.html



For the positions being discussed now, my vote would be Patrick AG, Flournoy SecDef, Lujan Grisham HHS, and Michael Connor Interior.

[Anonymous]

Did Deb Haaland’s prospects fade? Many people were strongly pushing for the first Native American Interior secretary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One of the four big slots (State, DOJ, Defense, Treasury) is going to have to go to a person of color and another is going to have to go to a woman or POC Diversity is important to the Democrats, and even more important to the movers and shakers (Clyburn, Hispanic Caucus, Womans groups)

Blinken is at State. Yellen is at Treasury.

I like Lloyd Austin at Defense. Maybe Sally Yates at DOJ?

Yates would be a great choice, but there is concern about her getting through confirmation. Flournoy is more qualified than the other candidates for Sec Def, who don't really have strong policy chops, though it would be strange to have so many officials from West Exec. But maybe Flournoy and either Jeh Johnson or Deval Patrick for attorney general? Patrick seems like a great pick but I guess some are unhappy with him for his presidential nom run.

If they can smooth things over, I do like Patrick for AG. Here is the latest:
https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/04/politics/biden-attorney-general-search/index.html



For the positions being discussed now, my vote would be Patrick AG, Flournoy SecDef, Lujan Grisham HHS, and Michael Connor Interior.

I like this group. Great credentials, diverse, should be smooth confirmations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Did Deb Haaland’s prospects fade? Many people were strongly pushing for the first Native American Interior secretary.

Michael Connor is also NA and has more direct experience, having served as Deputy Secretary of the Interior. Given all Trump's agency damage, I'd prefer someone who can come in and hit the ground running.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did Deb Haaland’s prospects fade? Many people were strongly pushing for the first Native American Interior secretary.

Michael Connor is also NA and has more direct experience, having served as Deputy Secretary of the Interior. Given all Trump's agency damage, I'd prefer someone who can come in and hit the ground running.

I wasn't familiar with him, but his credentials do seem really excellent. Experienced with Interior and Energy, engineering and law degrees.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_L._Connor

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did Deb Haaland’s prospects fade? Many people were strongly pushing for the first Native American Interior secretary.

Michael Connor is also NA and has more direct experience, having served as Deputy Secretary of the Interior. Given all Trump's agency damage, I'd prefer someone who can come in and hit the ground running.

I wasn't familiar with him, but his credentials do seem really excellent. Experienced with Interior and Energy, engineering and law degrees.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_L._Connor

It also helps that he was unanimously confirmed last time.

[Anonymous]

https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/04/politics/biden-attorney-general-search/index.html
This article outlines Biden's shortlist for DOJ. This list is Sally Yates, Doug Jones, Jeh Johnson, Deval Patrick, Xavier Becerra, and Lisa Monacco. Not much of a shortlist ahaha.

Interestingly, Deval Patrick is the only one on the list with a restriction on editing his Wikipedia page. This is not a guarantee or anything, but just an interesting detail.

Also, not to get too into the weeds, but I do hope Vanita Gupta gets the deputy slot. Shes fantastic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/04/politics/biden-attorney-general-search/index.html
This article outlines Biden's shortlist for DOJ. This list is Sally Yates, Doug Jones, Jeh Johnson, Deval Patrick, Xavier Becerra, and Lisa Monacco. Not much of a shortlist ahaha.

Interestingly, Deval Patrick is the only one on the list with a restriction on editing his Wikipedia page. This is not a guarantee or anything, but just an interesting detail.

Also, not to get too into the weeds, but I do hope Vanita Gupta gets the deputy slot. Shes fantastic.

Becerra now appears to be in the running for HHS.

[Anonymous]

If Becerra is picked for HHS and Padilla is selected to fill Kamala’s seat, Gavin Newsom is going to get to fill THREE state-wide offices. That is a lot of power.

Personally, I think Jennifer Granholm is a good pick for HHS. Shes super smart, has a decade plus of executive experience, and has connections to / is well-liked by people all across the spectrum.

[Anonymous]

I understand executive experience is critically important to the HHS pick but I find speculation about folks with no health/hhs experience bizarre. What the heck happened with Lujan Grisham??

[Anonymous]

I wonder why Whitmer isn’t in the mix for HHS. Or Bass, but maybe executive experience is the issue there.

[Anonymous]

[Anonymous]