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WILMINGTON, DELWARE (REUTERS) – US President-elect Joe Biden and his aides have spent months preparing for his transition to the White House, building a team that will grow to include several hundred staff members as let the Democrat take on the role he has pursued. for decades.
Here are the key advisers Biden will trust and consider for top positions in his new administration, according to people briefed on Biden’s early plans:
Inner circle
Biden has long maintained an inner circle that he relies on for strategic advice, including his family members and his chiefs of staff during his years in the White House as Vice President of Barack Obama, Ron Klain, Steve Ricchetti and Bruce Reed. .
Klain, a political strategist who also led the Obama administration’s response to an Ebola outbreak in 2014, is widely viewed as one of the top picks for being Biden’s initial chief of staff. The person in that job generally plays a key role in setting the president’s agenda, political priorities, and day-to-day activities.
Also likely to play prominent roles are Louisiana Congressman Cedric Richmond and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, who co-chaired Biden’s campaign.
The pandemic
Biden’s number one political priority is controlling the coronavirus pandemic. He promised that he will ask Dr. Anthony Fauci, America’s leading infectious disease expert who has clashed with President Donald Trump, to remain in office.
During Biden’s campaign, for briefings on the pandemic, he turned more frequently to former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, who is also expected to play a role in the new administration.
The recuperation
Biden has said his other key priority will be encouragement and relief to get the economy back on track. He has a host of high-level economic positions to fill in his administration, including Secretary of the Treasury, where Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard and former Under Secretary of the Treasury Sarah Bloom Raskin are seen as the top contenders. .
Biden’s selection for the job must be approved by the United States Senate, which could still be in Republican hands depending on the outcome of two runoff elections in Georgia in January. That could threaten the chances of progressive candidates for this and other roles, including US Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, despite her expertise in financial regulation.
Biden is also expected to turn to some of his longtime economic advisers in the White House and on the campaign trail, including Jared Bernstein and Ben Harris, for key economic advisory positions. Both have advocated an aggressive stimulus to prepare the economy.
Biden’s team has also hired KeyBank NA executive Don Graves to work on a broad review of the economic agency and former derivatives market regulator Gary Gensler to focus on market regulatory agencies.
Foreign policy
Biden vows to reestablish relations with allies and adversaries abroad early in his term. You are also expected to use long-time personal assistants to help you with this task.
Antony Blinken, one of Biden’s closest advisers on the campaign, is being considered for a national security adviser or secretary of state. Blinken was a member of the staff of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, long chaired by Biden, advised on his 2008 presidential campaign, and served as the vice president’s national security adviser in the White House.
He has advocated a strong leadership role for the United States abroad to confront potential adversaries like China, while emphasizing opportunities for cooperation with other countries.
Jake Sullivan, another top political adviser to the campaign, is also being considered for an international relations position.
Susan Rice, who was vetted to be Biden’s running mate, is also considered one of the top picks for Secretary of State despite conflict with Republicans over her role after the 2012 militant attack on the US mission in Benghazi , Libya.
So is one of Biden’s biggest supporters in the Senate, Chris Coons of Delaware.
Michele Flournoy, a former high-ranking US Defense Department official who co-founded a consulting firm with Blinken, is considered one of the best options to run the Pentagon.
Climate change
Biden’s team is considering appointing a “climate czar” to fulfill the promises the president-elect made during his campaign to address the issue.
Possibilities for that position include Biden’s longtime friend and former Senator John Kerry, as well as Brian Deese, who helped negotiate the Paris climate deal that Biden wants to rejoin. Another possibility is Washington State Governor Jay Inslee, who took on Biden in the Democratic primary on a climate change platform before advising the former vice president.
Another key climate-related role is that of Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, where candidates include clean air activist Heather Toney, former Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget Ali Zaidi, and President of the Board of California Air Resources Mary Nichols.
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