Monday, November 16, 2020

REPUBLICAN STATES | By Presidency

November 16, 2020—Posted on Reddit. Reminder that Minnesota hasn't voted GOP since Nixon. New York not since Reagan. California and Illinois not since Bush 41... Only DC has never voted Republican.


Sunday, November 15, 2020

ECONOMIST JOB OPENING | In Washington, D.C.

November 15, 2020—Job opportunity for self-starting candidates with strong communications and critical thinking skills, with a premium on experience covering economic policy on the Hill. 

This position is one of a team of four economic policy analysts in an economic policy research and advocacy firm.  The team works with legislators, Hill staffers, academics, public interest groups, and progressive organizations on domestic economic policy legislative and political projects with a focus on fiscal and financial policy.

Target Start Date:   December 7, 2020

Job Description:  http://eepurl.com/hh3ccr

Thursday, November 12, 2020

BIDEN TRANSITION | Lessons from FDR (updated December 2, 2020)

                                           (Library of Congress)
Hoover traveling with FDR in silence to FDR'
inauguration, Saturday, March 4, 1933.  

November 12, 2020—The East Hampton Star just published my political-history notes on lessons from FDR's first transition.

—The article is updated with information on most-talked-about appointments here. Biden transition teams list is here.

—Some jobs are not coming back even when Covid-19 is over.

The photo of FDR and Hoover above, on their way to FDR's inauguration, is poignant. On the way, they didn't talk much. Hoover asked a favor of FDR for someone he appointed and would be left behind. FDR promised nothing.

Although FDR served as President for more than twelve years, until his death in 1945, the President and ex-President never met again. Transitions can be brutal in both directions. 

FDR faced a mountain of challenges that Hoover had never addressed. Hoover went from being the most powerful person in a devastated world into a total eclipse by someone who knew better than Hoover what to do with the job and power that Hoover left behind.

Wednesday, November 11, 2020

PRESIDENT-ELECT BIDEN'S CABINET | As of January 20, 2021

Appointments of President 
Biden and VP Kamala Harris

This post is left as it was at the time of President Biden's inauguration. It is updated with new confirmations here:

https://cityeconomist.blogspot.com/2021/01/president-bidens-cabinet-history-and.html


President Joseph Biden has nominated 24 people to cabinet-level positions. Nearly half (eleven) are women. The cabinet was originally composed of the heads of the largest agencies. That today is 15 people, of whom five are women. The other nine positions are cabinet rank.


These numbers exclude the President and Vice President Kamala Harris. Cabinet photos always include the President, but not always the Vice President; Biden is likely to be inclusive. (The Washington Post photos of the cabinet on January 16 included the vice president.) 


Agencies change their names and spin off new agencies that become cabinet level themselves. Who is of cabinet rank changes with every administration. Here is some history, followed by President Biden's list and confirmation status.


The cabinet was originally five under Washington. George Washington's cabinet showed five men—the President and the Secretaries of State (Jefferson), Treasury (Hamilton) and War (Knox), and the Attorney-General, heading the Justice Department (Randolph). It was formed after the middle of Washington's first term. The heads of the four agencies are in the order of succession to the presidency in the event of the president becoming incapacitated; precedence is based on when the agencies were first created.


FDR had a cabinet of eleven, including himself. Four date back to Washington's cabinet—State (Hull), Treasury (Woodin), War (Dern), Justice (AG Cummings). Four were new—Agriculture (Wallace), Commerce (Roper), Interior (Ickes) and Labor (Perkins).  The other two agencies, since dropped, were the Postmaster-General (Farley) and Navy Secretary (Swanson). 


Biden's cabinet has the basic fifteen (plus himself and , the Vice President), plus nine other cabinet-rank positions. The basic eight are the agencies on FDR's list after the two deletions, except that the Department of War on August 10, 1949 was renamed the Department of Defense. Since Roosevelt, seven agencies have been added to his surviving eight: Health and Human Services (HHS, formerly HEW), Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Transportation, Energy, Education, Veterans Administration and Homeland Security (DHS). Total: 15 agencies.


The nine other appointees of cabinet rank are a separate group composed of staff members heading smaller agencies or staff groups (3 men, 6 women)—The President's Chief of Staff (no Senate confirmation required), Director of National Intelligence, Science Adviser, CEA Chair, CIA Director, EPA Administrator, OMB Director, SBA Administrator, US Trade Representative (USTR) and UN Ambassador. Sources: AP, Biden Transition, NPR, WaPo.


I. CABINET (Agency heads, subject to Senate confirmation). 15 (10M, 5W). (WaPo's list includes the Vice President and Chief of Staff here, for a total of 17. Chief of Staff is listed here in the second group. Cabinet photos also include the President himself, which would bring the photo to 17 people.)

Agriculture Secretary
Tom Vilsack. He served as Agriculture Secretary under President Obama.

Attorney-General, Department of Justice: Merrick Garland. Garland had been nominated for the Supreme Court. He was widely viewed as a superb choice but was not acted on by the Republican Senate.

Commerce Secretary.
Gina Raimondo. First female governor of Rhode Island. When elected, faced the worst unemployment rate of any state and launched successful workforce training programs.



Defense Secretary:
 General (Ret.) Lloyd Austin. First-ever Black defense secretary. A former four-star general, he retired from the military in 2016. Confirmation hearing Jan. 19 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukPQtthKEQQ.
Education Secretary
: Miguel Cardona. Former commissioner of education for the State of Connecticut. He is a strong advocate for public schools.

Energy Secretary:
Jennifer Granholm, former governor of the State of Michigan and previous the that was attorney general of the state. 


Health and Human Services Secretary: Xavier Becerra. Former attorney general of California, he led the defense of Obamacare. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director: Rochelle Walensky.)

Homeland Security Secretary: Alejandro Mayorkas. First Latino and first immigrant to the United States in this role. Confirmation hearing January 19. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukPQtthKEQQ.


Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary
: Marcia FudgeFudge would  be the first woman to run HUD in 40 years. She’s the third Black woman named for Biden’s Cabinet.

Interior Department Secretary
: Deb Haaland. The first Native American Cabinet secretary and Interior Department head, she marks a turning point for the U.S. government’s stance with our indigenous peoples, who have been highly affected by toxic air and polluted land.

Labor Secretary.
Martin J. (Marty) Walsh. Mayor of Boston, he is the first union leader in the Labor post in half a century. The Department was created in 1933. Champion of a $15 minimum wage and paid family leave.


Secretary of State: Antony BlinkenBlinken served as deputy secretary of State between 2015 and 2017. He advised President-Elect Biden for years and in 2008 worked on Biden's bid for the Democratic nomination, which he lost to former President Obama. Confirmation hearing Jan. 19. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukPQtthKEQQ.


Transportation Secretary: 
Pete Buttigieg. Former Rhodes Scholar. Was Mayor of South Bend, Indiana. (Likely future candidate for President.)


Treasury Secretary
:
 
Former Fed Chair Janet L. YellenChallenges.  (Deputy Treasury Secretary: Wally Adeyemo.) Confirmation hearing Jan. 19. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukPQtthKEQQ.


Veterans Affairs SecretaryDenis McDonough.





II. CABINET RANK (Smaller agencies and WH Staff) 9 (3M, 6W)

Council of Economic Advisers, Chair: 
Cecilia Rouse. Rouse, a  Californian, PhD in economics from Harvard, was Dean of Princeton’s School of Public and International Affairs. Rouse's position is Cabinet status under Biden; Trump had demoted the CEA. (CEA Members: Jared Bernstein and Heather Boushey.)

Environmental Protection Agency AdministratorMichael S. ReganCabinet rank, but not a Cabinet Department.




Executive Office of the President, 
Chief of Staff: Ron Klain. (Senate confirmation not required.)


National Intelligence Director: 
Avril Haines. Confirmation hearing, Select Committee on Intelligence. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukPQtthKEQQ.
 (National Security Council:  National Security Adviser: Jake Sullivan)


OMB Director:
  
Neera Tanden.



Science Adviser. 
Eric Lander. This position is newly elevated under President-Elect Biden to cabinet level. Lander was a leader of the Human Genome Project. He 
directs the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP).

Small Business Administration. Isabel Guzman. Comes from the California Office of the Small Business Advocate. Former deputy chief of staff at the SBA and a small business entrepreneur.

U.N. Ambassador
Linda Thomas-Greenfield. The post was non-Cabinet status under Trump, but was restored by President-Elect Bide
n. She was ambassador to Liberia and then Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs in 2013-2017.
 

U.S. Trade Representative
: Katherine Tai.




III. OTHER KEY APPOINTEES

CIA Director: 
William J. (Bill) Burns. Retired from State Department as Deputy Secretary in 2014. Former ambassador to Russia and Jordan. President of Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Was elevated under Trump to Cabinet level, but is not included in WaPo list as of January 16. Reports to Director of National Intelligence (Avril Haines).

Climate Special Presidential Envoy: John Kerry. The new position was recommended by Justice Democrats and the Sunrise Movement. National Climate Adviser: Gina McCarthy.

Communications Director: Kate Bedingfield. Press SecretaryJen(nifer) Psaki.

Council on Environmental Quality, Chair: Brenda Mallory

Domestic Policy Council, Director: Susan Rice.

National Economic Council, Director: Brian Deese.

IV. MORE ABOUT THE CABINET AND BIDEN'S CHALLENGES

Sunday, November 1, 2020

STATE RACES, RED TO BLUE | Heidi's Picks

Sunday, November 1—As Election Day (Tuesday) approaches, the Battleground States are getting special attention. See two takes on a Biden or Trump victory in these states.  (More recently: CNN's guess on the likely range in the Electoral College vote and the American Prospect's "Unsanitized" roundup.)

The following summary of key down-ballot state races was sent to me by Heidi Fiske, who asked me to post it on her behalf, as I have done before:

Nothing is more important than winning the Presidency and taking back the Senate.


But those races are attracting huge sums of money. Not so the state races, which both require and attract less money. 


We will realize in January just how important these overlooked races are, because thats when governors, state AGs, state Secretaries of State, state judges and state legislatures will determine the district lines that will hold for a decade, through 2030, based on this year's foreshortened census. 


The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (DLCC), the Democratic body that concerns itself with state races, says that if the 48 state legislative candidates in the links below are elected, they will flip 10 chambers in seven critical states from Red to Blue. Of these seats, 34 are in chambers that will rule on district lines for one-third of all House seats (144 of 435).

  • Heidi's Picks incorporates recommendations of the DLCC, Future Now, and some other individuals and groups.
  • Arizona, 5 legislative candidates
  • Iowa, 4 legislative candidates
  • Michigan, 4 legislative candidates
  • Minnesota, 2 legislative candidates
  • North Carolina, 11 legislative  + Attorney General + Secretary of State + 2 Supreme Court candidates  [NCs superb governor is not included only because he is well-funded and almost certain to win]
  • Pennsylvania, 13 legislative candidates [PAs outstanding Attorney General is not included only because he is considered sure to win]
  • Texas, 9 legislative + 4 Supreme Court