If you’re wondering if this whole activity of speculating about a Biden cabinet (see Part 1 and Part 2) is a version of fiddling while Rome burns, I’m right there with you. I’m sure I’m not alone in wondering if November will bring a shiny new administration or the start (or continuation?) of a multi-sided civil war. So please use my posts as a fun and hopeful distraction from the current world mess and your personal cares, then get right back in there and try to make things better (such as sending Get-Out-the-Vote postcards to potential voters).
In Part 3 of my Mock Draft, I tackle posts that are important, but not cabinet posts included in the Constitution. These include posts currently considered “cabinet-level” and a few others, including one not in government: Chair of the Democratic National Committee. As with the other posts, I am trying to predict who Biden might choose, not who I’d like him to choose. In this post, we finally get to Susan Rice, add two more Louisianas to the group for a total of three, plus add a power trio of Chicagoans, including one of two former White House Chiefs of Staff. Let’s get to it:
Susan Rice, White House Chief of Staff
A lot of people have her slotted in as Secretary of State or Defense, but both of these posts require Senate confirmation, which is sure to be contentious due to Rice’s central role in the Benghazi affair. The word is that Biden trusts Rice, and her experience, as Ambassador to the UN and National Security Advisor, is in foreign policy, his favorite area, so I’m giving her this central role in guiding the administration. She would be the first woman and first person of color in this role.
Rahm Emanuel, US Trade Representative
The former White House Chief of Staff and Mayor of Chicago is known as an exceptionally hard-nosed negotiator and shares Biden’s generally pro-Free Trade agenda (he helped push through NAFTA in the Clinton administration), so he seems perfect for Trade Rep, even if lefties and labor won’t love it.
Denis McDonough, Director of National Intelligence
Obama elevated McDonough from Deputy National Security Advisor to White House Chief of Staff and kept him in that role for his entire second term, a long run for that post. This indicates his expertise in national security and ability to manage a large, complex system – key qualifications for coordinating all seventeen (!) US intelligence agencies.
Neera Tanden, Director of the Office of Management and Budget
Heather Wilson, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency
My second Republican pick actually worked for a while in the Trump Administration as Secretary of the Air Force, which she escaped without tarnishing her reputation. Starting her career working on arms treaty negotiations for the Air Force and the National Security Council, she later focused on intelligence policy while a House member from New Mexico. There she showed her independence and integrity by opening investigations into the NSA’s warrantless wiretapping program and taking Donald Rumsfeld to task during hearings about the Abu Ghraib scandal. I think she’s the kind of Republican that Biden could trust on his national security team.
Mellody Hobson, Administrator of the Small Business Administration
Hobson has an impressive business resume: president and co-CEO of Ariel Investments, former chairwoman of Dreamworks Animation and head of the Economic Club of Chicago to start with, leading Time magazine to name her one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2015. What makes her especially suited to this role is that Ariel invests entirely in small and mid-sized businesses, making her very aware of their needs (it also doesn’t hurt that she’s a long-time friend and fundraiser for the Obamas). On a side note, she’s married to George Lucas, which is another reason it’s good to be George.
Donald McEachin, Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency
Since getting elected to the House from Virginia in 2016, McEachin has emerged as the kind of leader needed at EPA, co-sponsoring the Environmental Justice for All Act, serving as vice-chair of the House Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition and being selected by Nancy Pelosi to serve on the Select Committee on the Climate Crisis.
William Joseph Burns, Ambassador to the United Nations
I’ve read Pete Buttigieg mentioned for this role for some reason (I guess he’s supposed to charm the world with that Mayor Pete magic), by why not appoint the most seasoned diplomat you can find? Like the only career diplomat every to serve as Deputy Secretary of State, who was Ambassador to Russia, and who negotiated both an Israeli-Palestinian cease fire and helped set up the Iran nuclear deal? That’s William Joseph Burns. Not a celebrity, but he gets stuff done.
Avril Haines, National Security Advisor
Speaking of people you’ve never heard of, Avril Haines has got to be the only person who has ever gone from being a respected Baltimore bookstore owner to Deputy Director of the CIA. Along with an impressive resume of national security experience, she’s also made some dubious decisions, especially regarding the CIA torture report, but that doesn’t seem to bother Biden, who appointed her to oversee foreign policy and national security affairs for his campaign. He doesn’t need Senate approval for this post, so I’m guessing he sticks with Haines.
Jared Bernstein, Director of the National Economic Council
Bernstein is mentioned by many for this role, and he served as Biden’s Chief Economist and Economic Adviser early in his Vice-Presidency. The interesting thing is that Bernstein is very against the Free Trade agenda, while Biden has generally been for it, although with exceptions. If he goes with Bernstein, it will be a sign that he really intends to create “most progressive administration” since FDR, as he has pledged.
Sally Yates, Chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission
Yates made national news in 2017 while, as acting Attorney General before Jeff Sessions took over, she was fired by Trump for refusing to use the Justice Department to defend his Muslim travel ban. I’m picking her to regulate Wall Street not only because of her integrity but because, as Deputy Attorney General, she authored the “Yates Memo,” which prioritized actually prosecuting CEOs for their corporate crimes instead of seeking settlements. That’s the kind of law-and-order attitude toward corporate crime that is certain to make Elizabeth Warren smile.
Helene Gayle, Surgeon General
Due to the pandemic, the role of Surgeon General is much more in the public eye than it usually is. While the current SG is an anesthesiologist who owes his public career to Mike Pence, Dr. Helene Gayle has a lifetime of public health experience, including running HIV programs for the CDC and the Gates Foundation and chairing Obama’s Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS. Currently CEO of the Chicago Community Trust, Dr. Gayle was named one of Foreign Policy magazine’s “Top 100 Global Thinkers, which is what our pandemic response needs right now.
Mitch Landrieu, Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency
The deadly combination of a pandemic, catastrophic wildfires and increased hurricane activity, FEMA will be a busy agency in the years to come. Mitch Landrieu was Mayor of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, which gave him plenty of exposure to what FEMA does well and how it needs to be improved. Landrieu is credited with excellent management in turning around New Orleans, as well as becoming an important white Southern voice in the Confederate monument controversy, authoring the bestselling book In the Shadow of Statues: A White Southerner Confronts History.
Cedric Richmond, Chair of the Democratic National Committee
Speaking of New Orleans, Rep. Cedric Richmond represents most of the city in the House, and also happens to have been the first national co-chairman of the Biden 2020 campaign. Fellow Louisianan James Carville thinks he will be a “powerful person” in DC if Biden wins, and Richmond says he will not leave the House, but he could keep his seat and chair the DNC at the same time.
Looking over my picks, I know what a lot of you are thinking: Where’s Mayor Pete? And how about Beto? Well, I just couldn’t find a spot for them. Maybe Biden will help them burnish their resumes for future runs by giving them good ambassadorships (NATO for Pete and Mexico for Beto?). Maybe they’ll get good gigs as media talking heads, which will keep them in the public eye better than being named to head some minor agency. Or maybe they’ll appear in my Biden Cabinet Mock Draft version 2.0. Tune in and find out!
Let me know what you think and share your own picks in the comments!
Biden Cabinet Mock Draft, Pt. 1: Joe’s Picks Continue to Make History
Biden Cabinet Mock Draft, Pt. 2: Old Obama Hands, a Latinx Wave and a Nod to Bernie
Also published at ChangeShapersBlog