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On Tuesday, Joe Biden formally presented his first list of selections for cabinet positions.
A Senate Republican said Biden’s options “went to the Ivy League schools, they have strong curriculums, they will attend all the right conferences and they will be the educated and orderly caretakers of America’s decline.”
Other he mocked that the list of names resembled a guest list for a “dinner in Georgetown.”
But most, less biased, observers agreed that after four years of chaos under Donald Trump, himself a self-proclaimed outsider, a dose of insider knowledge and institutional stability might be just what Washington needs.
Here are five things we’ve learned so far about the Biden election.
Experience counts …
“If they are not household names,” opined the Washington Post, “Biden’s elections are permeated by the roads” of the capital, knowing the place as Donald Trump’s collection of political allies, businessmen, donors, scammers, horseflies and relatives. no.
Secretary of State candidate Tony Blinken, for example, worked for Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, and for Biden when he was Obama’s vice president. Janet Yellen, who is now heading to the treasury, was chairman of the Federal Reserve. John Kerry, the climate envoy, was a senator from Massachusetts for 28 years, ran for president in 2004 and was secretary of state in Obama’s second term.
Nor are those appointed to less prominent positions inexperienced or untested. Elected national security adviser Jake Sullivan is “only” 43 years old, but he worked for Hillary Clinton when she was secretary of state and for Biden when he was vice president. Avril Haines, appointed director of national intelligence, is a former deputy director of the CIA, deputy national security adviser and deputy senior adviser to the Senate Democrats.
… but also having worked for Obama
The experience can also bring luggage. Biden worked for the 44th president and so did many of his hires, to the point, Politico reported Tuesday, that some of those who worked on Biden’s campaign this time are feeling a little pissed off.
“Obama employees are now eliminating the people who elected Biden,” the website said, citing a senior Biden official. “None of these people found the courage to help the vice president when he ran and now they are elevating their friends above the Biden people. He’s screwed. “
Another Biden adviser who worked on the campaign, Politico said, called that criticism “very valid.”
Large positions remain to be filled, including secretary of defense and attorney general. Contrary to many progressive dreams, Obama himself will not fulfill them. In promoting his memoirs, the former president ruled out assuming any role under Biden. If he did, he says, his wife Michelle would leave him.
Internationalism is back
A potentially positive side of reliance on Obama alumni lies in the fact that Obama was a world president, intending to build strong relationships with allies as well as engagement with traditional enemies, an approach far removed from Trump’s attacks on America’s friends and alarming habit of flirting with dictators. In short, people like Blinken, Yellen and Kerry already have strong relationships with government leaders and officials at the international center who are desperate for a reboot.
“Tony Blinken’s ties to Europe are lifelong, deep and personal,” Politico Europe wrote on Tuesday, speaking of his near-flawless French, his past life in Paris, his skepticism about Brexit and his status as “a fierce believer. in the transatlantic alliance. “
“On all major foreign policy issues – terrorism, climate, pandemics, trade, China, the Iran nuclear deal – he has a recurring mantra: The United States must work with its allies and within international treaties and organizations.”
Diversity matters …
The Post called Biden’s victory “something akin to the revenge of the Washington establishment,” but so far the Democrat has also kept his promise to appoint an administration that reflects American diversity far more strongly than Trump’s.
Biden’s nominee for Secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, is a Cuban-American who has spoken of his experience as the son of immigrants. Linda Thomas-Greenfield won’t be the first woman of color to be an ambassador to the United Nations (Susan Rice and Nikki Haley held the job), but she was the highest-ranking black American diplomat until Trump fired her.
It was reported that Biden came close to naming Michèle Flournoy as the first woman to be Secretary of Defense, only for her to stand out by her absence when the names were mentioned. Reports now say that Jeh Johnson, the secretary of homeland security under Obama, could become the first black defense chief.
… but also policies
Many of Biden’s selections played a prominent role in developing and implementing policies enforced by previous administrations that Trump used as rocket fuel for his rise to the White House based on complaints.
“They helped negotiate the Paris climate deal and the Iran nuclear deal,” the Post wrote of Biden’s nominees. “They advocated for the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade agreement that was part of a strategic shift towards Asia. They were all ripped apart by Trump. “
Now, “amid the coronavirus pandemic and the simultaneous economic collapse, that populist streak has not abated. Trade deals will be more difficult to achieve than years ago, and the nation appears to have little appetite for foreign intervention. “
Biden has become the first president to receive more than 80 million votes. But Trump only got 6 million less. That’s a lot of Americans for Biden and his staff to win over.
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