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 Fudge. Fudge 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 Blinken. Blinken 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. Yellen. Challenges.  (Deputy Treasury Secretary: Wally Adeyemo.) Confirmation hearing Jan. 19. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukPQtthKEQQ.

Veterans Affairs Secretary. Denis 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 Administrator: Michael S. Regan. Cabinet 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 Biden. 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 Secretary: Jen(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

- Biggest economic challenge. 

- Notes from FDR's transition. 

- Biden urges economic stimulus soon. 

- Worrisome impact of Covid—many unemployed are not returning to the workforce.

- Fortune's take on the economic team.

- "Team of Insiders" (December 12)

- Biden Cabinet to Be the Most Diverse Ever (December 19)

- Origin of the Cabinet