1. Avril Haines, Director of National Intelligence, first-ever female DNI, confirmed 84 to 10, January 20. First nominee to be confirmed. (More below, by agency.)3. Janet Yellen, Secretary of the Treasury. Confirmed 84 to 15, January 25. 4. Antony Blinken, Secretary of State. Confirmed 78-22, January 26. This was the first agency created, under George Washington. 8. Tom Vilsack, Secretary of Agriculture. Confirmed February 23. 12. Gina Raimondo, Secretary of Commerce. Confirmed 84-15, March 2. 13. Cecilia Rouse, Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers. Confirmed 95-4, March 2. 14. Marcia Fudge, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. Confirmed March 10.
15. Merrick Garland. Attorney-General. Confirmed March 10.
16. Deb Haaland, Secretary of the Interor. Confirmed March 16.
17. Katherine Tai, Trade Representative. Confirmed March 17.
19. Marty Walsh, Secretary of Labor. Confirmed March 22.
Biden's Historic Cabinet. Of Biden's nominees, nearly half (46 percent, 11/24; with the vice president, 12/25) are women. Women previously never made up more than 41 percent of a cabinet, the highest percent having been in President Bill Clinton's second term. The cabinet was originally composed of just the heads of the largest agencies. That today is fifteen people, of whom five are women, one-third. The other nine positions are cabinet rank. President Biden's official cabinet page includes all cabinet-level appointments. Of Biden’s first 100-plus staff appointees, 60 percent were women, more than 50 percent were people of color and 20 percent were first-generation Americans.
Among cabinet appointees confirmed in the first 100 days of the last three presidential administrations, almost 72 percent were white, and 73 percent were male, says the Brookings Institution. Black Americans have never accounted for as much as one-third of the cabinet.
Note about the cabinet numbers: Cabinet numbers in the past have excluded the president and vice president. President Biden on the White House cabinet page may be signaling that Vice President Kamala Harris part of the cabinet, as she is first in the line of succession. Starting with George Washington, the cabinet has included the president but not the vice president. After the vice president, the Speaker of the House and the President Pro Tem of the Senate, the line of succession begins with leaders of the four agencies created by Washington—secretary of state, secretary of the treasury, secretary of defense (until 1947 secretary of war) and attorney general. Which title is cabinet rank can change with every administration. The order of succession is the order in which the agency was created.
George Washington had a cabinet of four men. George Washington's cabinet shows the President with four other men—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 agencies are listed in order of succession to the presidency.
FDR had a cabinet of ten—nine men and one woman. Besides the four agencies that date back to Washington's cabinet—State (Hull), Treasury (Woodin), War (Dern), Justice (Attorney General Cummings), he added four new ones—Agriculture (Wallace), Commerce (Roper), Interior (Ickes) and Labor (Perkins). The other two agencies have since been dropped as cabinet-level positions, i.e., the Postmaster-General (Farley) and Navy Secretary (Swanson).
Biden's cabinet is composed of the heads of the core fifteen agencies, plus nine other cabinet-rank positions, listed in order of succession. The first eight agencies are on FDR's list, but two were discontinued, and the Department of War on August 10, 1949 was renamed the Department of Defense. Since Roosevelt, seven agencies have been added: Health and Human Services (HHS, formerly HEW), Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Transportation, Energy, Education, Veterans Administration and Homeland Security (DHS). Total: fifteen. The order of succession is: Vice President, State, Treasury, Defense, Justice (Attorney General), Interior, Agriculture, Commerce, Labor, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Transportation, Energy, Education, Veterans Affairs, Homeland Security.
The nine other appointees of cabinet rank head smaller agencies or staff groups (3 men, 6 women). The order of succession is: EPA Administrator, OMB Director, Director of National Intelligence, US Trade Representative (USTR), US Ambassador to the UN, CEA Chair, SBA Administrator, Science Advisor and the President's Chief of Staff (no Senate confirmation required).
President's Social Media Handles: Twitter: @POTUS and @JoeBiden . Facebook: Joe Biden . Instagram: @joebiden and @potus. (First Lady Dr Jill Biden: Twitter: @DrBiden . Instagram: @drbiden and @flotus.)
Vice President Kamala Harris. Twitter: @VP and @KamalaHarris . Facebook: Kamala Harris . Instagram: @kamalaharris and @vp. (Doug Emhoff, spouse/second gentleman): Twitter: @SecondGentleman and @DouglasEmhoff . Instagram: @douglasemhoff and @secondgentleman.)
I. CORE-CABINET NOMINEES (Heads of large agencies, subject to Senate confirmation). 15 (10 men, 5 women). (WaPo's list includes the Vice President and Chief of Staff, for a total of 17. Chief of Staff here is in the second group in this list because the Chief of Staff does not head a large department. Cabinet photos also include the President himself, which with the Vice President and Chief of Staff would bring a photo of the core cabinet to 18 people. Other combinations are also possible.)
Agriculture Secretary: Tom Vilsack. He served as Agriculture Secretary under President Obama.
Attorney-General, Department of Justice (CONFIRMED March 10): 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 (CONFIRMED, March 2): Gina Raimondo. First female governor of Rhode Island. When elected, faced the worst unemployment rate of any state and launched successful workforce training programs. Twitter:
Gina Raimondo
Education Secretary (CONFIRMED):
Miguel Cardona. Former commissioner of education for the State of Connecticut. He is a strong advocate for public schools. Twitter:
Miguel Cardona
Energy Secretary (CONFIRMED February 25): Jennifer Granholm, former governor of the State of Michigan and previous the that was attorney general of the state.
Twitter: Jennifer Granholm.
Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary: Marcia Fudge. Fudge is the first woman to run HUD in 40 years. She’s the third Black woman named for Biden’s Cabinet. Twitter: Marcia Fudge.
Interior Department Secretary (CONFIRMED): 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. Twitter: Deb Haaland.
Secretary of State (CONFIRMED January 26): 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. Twitter: Antony Blinken.
Transportation Secretary (CONFIRMED): Pete Buttigieg. Rhodes Scholar. Was Mayor of South Bend, Indiana. First-ever openly gay cabinet member. Likely future candidate for President. Twitter: Pete Buttigieg.
Veterans Affairs Secretary (CONFIRMED February 8). Denis McDonough. The Veterans Administration provides health care and benefits to 9 million veterans. It is the largest health-care delivery system in the nation. Twitter:
Denis McDonough. Former chief of staff of President Barack Obama.
II. CABINET RANK NOMINEES (Smaller agencies and WH Staff subject to Senate confirmation except for Chief of Staff Ron Klain) 9 (3 men, 6 women)
Council of Economic Advisers, Chair (CONFIRMED, March 2): 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, confirmation not required.)
Executive Office of the President, Chief of Staff (SENATE CONFIRMATION NOT REQUIRED): Ron Klain (pronounced KLANE). An alum of the Obama-Biden administration, Klain had previously been Biden's chief of staff when he was vice president, which includes the post-2009 economic crisis. He was appointed President Obama's Ebola czar in 2014. Ron Klain (Chief of Staff), @WhiteHouse or @WHCOS. (Deputy Chief of Staff: Bruce Reed.)
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 (CONFIRMED BY THE SENATE, February 23): 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. First woman of color to hold this position.
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). Bipartisan support in Intelligence Committee.
The following table includes only the fifteen agency heads, the original definition of the cabinet.
Nomination | Announced | Hearings | Received | Confirmed | Vote |
Secretary of Agriculture |
Tom Vilsack | Dec 8, 2020 | Feb 2, 2021 | Jan 20, 2021 | Feb 23, 3021 | 92-7 Vote No. 63 |
Attorney General |
Merrick Garland | Jan 7, 2021 | Feb 22, 2021 | Jan 20, 2021 | Mar 10, 2021 | 70-30 |
Secretary of Commerce |
Gina Raimondo | Jan 7, 2021 | Jan 26, 2021 | Jan 20, 2021 | Mar 2, 2021 | 84-15 Vote No. 70 |
Secretary of Defense |
Lloyd Austin | Dec 9, 2020 | Jan 19, 2021 | Jan 20, 2021 | Jan 22, 2021 | 93-2 Vote No. 5 |
Secretary of Education |
Miguel Cardona | Dec 23, 2020 | Feb 3, 2021 | Jan 20, 2021 | Mar 1, 2021 | 64-33 Vote No. 68 |
Secretary of Energy |
Jennifer Granholm | Dec 17, 2020 | Jan 27, 2021 | Jan 20, 2021 | Feb 25, 2021 | 64-35 Vote No. 66 |
Secretary of Health & Human Services |
Xavier Becerra | Dec 8, 2020 | Feb 23, 2021 Feb 24, 2021 | Jan 20, 2021 | March 18, 2021 |
|
Secretary of Homeland Security |
Alejandro Mayorkas | Nov 23, 2020 | Jan 19, 2021 | Jan 20, 2021 | Feb 2, 2021 | 56-43 No. 12 |
Secretary of Housing & Urban Development |
Marcia Fudge | Dec 8, 2020 | Jan 28, 2021 | Jan 20, 2021 | Mar 10, 2021 | 66-34 |
Secretary of Interior |
Deb Haaland | Dec 19, 2020 | Feb 23-24, 2021 | Jan 20, 2021 | March 2021 |
|
Secretary of Labor |
Marty Walsh | Jan 8, 2021 | Feb 4, 2021 | Jan 20, 2021 | March 22, 2021 |
|
Secretary of State |
Antony Blinken | Nov 23, 2020 | Jan 19, 2021 | Jan 20, 2021 | Jan 26, 2021 | 78-22 No. 7 |
Secretary of Transportation |
Peter Buttigieg | Dec 16, 2020 | Jan 21, 2021 | Jan 20, 2021 | Feb 2, 2021 | 86-13 No. 11 |
Secretary of Treasury |
Janet Yellen | Nov 30, 2020 | Jan 19, 2021 | Jan 20, 2021 | Jan 25, 2021 | 84-15 No. 6 |
Secretary of Veterans Affairs |
Denis McDonough | Dec 11, 2020 | Jan 27, 2021 | Jan 20, 2021 | Feb 8, 2021 | 87-7 No. 55 |
CONFIRMED |
|
|
| 15 |
|
NOT CON-FIRMED |
|
|
| 0 |
|
IV. SOURCES ABOUT THE CABINET AND ITS CHALLENGES
Defense Secretary (CONFIRMED, January 22, FIRST BLACK 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. Confirmed, January 22. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukPQtthKEQQ.Twitter: Gen. Lloyd Austin.
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