Rahm in Biden’s Cabinet? We could see it.
“Someone like Rahm Emanuel would be a pretty divisive pick,” U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez recently said about the former Chicago mayor possibly joining President-elect Joe Biden’s Cabinet. “And itwould signal, I think, a hostile approach to the grassroots and the progressive wing of the party.”
Rahm Emanuel … divisive. Aswe think back on Emanuel’s two terms as mayor, fromMay 2011 toMay 2019, it’s notable howmany colorful descriptions fit his outlook, temperament and skill set: Demanding, aggressive, politically shrewd, businesssavvy, enterprising, tightlywound, aloof, self-promoting, foul-mouthed.
He’s “Mayor 1%” for making the downtown area glitter. He’s aWashington, D.C., insider for having been a member of Congress and chief of staff to former President Barack Obama. He’s aWall Street tycoon for earning some $18 million during a brief stint in the banking industry.
“Divisive” works too, but not for the reasons
Ocasio-Cortezwould cite. Emanuel’s record is easy to cherry-pick to seem better orworse. While mayor of Chicago, he pushed CityHall to taper irresponsible borrowing and forced tax hikes to cover pension costs. But he should have done more sooner. He only embraced real pension reform through a constitutional amendment on hisway out the door.
He made Chicago more attractive for corporate employers, business travelers and tourists but didn’t do much to lift the struggling South and West sides. He micromanaged his police chief but couldn’t get violent crime under control.
And most controversial, he is associated with the police shooting of LaquanMcDonald and CityHall’s attempts to cover it up by settling out of court with Laquan’s family and fighting in court the release of dashcam video. Thatwas the primary reason Emanuel stepped aside rather than seek a third term— growing voter distrust. Emanuel insisted he never sawthe video andwasn’t fully aware of the city’s lawyers fighting its release. But froma hands-on manager, his defense strained credulity.
During the Democratic National Convention
in 2016, hewas viewed as a liability, not invited to speak, criticized in a party-produced video for his Obamacare stance— Emanuel opposed the health care initiative and advised Obama to dump it— and he didn’t sit with other dignitaries in the convention hall. It added up to an overt jab fromthe outgoing administration. But Emanuel seems to have repaired his reputation since. ABC News hired him as a contributor and he is a regular guest on pundit shows, wrote a book, andworked with the Biden campaign to get him elected.
Does the LaquanMcDonald case disqualify Emanuel fromgoing back to Washington? That will be for Biden administration officials to decide— to weigh against Emanuel’s governing and political experience, his highoctane metabolism and his negotiating skills for a role as transportation secretary, one position for which he is said to be a candidate.
Reportedly, Emanuelwants the job. Hewas an economic adviser to Biden during the campaign and talked up support for the next administration to pursue amajor infrastructure program, which by definitionwould be a transportation project. “I thinkwe should be for rebuilding America,” Emanuel said.
A $1 trillion investment in highways, bridges, etc., is one of the few significant policy proposals where Democrats and Republicans usually find agreement, and transportation secretary is one ofWashington’s least divisive assignments. It’s as close a cabinet position gets to being bipartisan because everyone understands the economic necessity of infrastructure. Ray LaHood, the Republican former congressman fromPeoria, was Obama’s transportation secretary for four years and has praised Emanuel’swork ethic and ability to get things done.
is also in Emanuel’s wheelhouse because big city mayors grasp the importance of mass transit and road maintenance. Chicago, at the crossroads of the country, is a crucial rail hub. Every day, 1,300 freight and passenger trains move through Chicago. O’Hare International Airport is the country’s third busiest.
One of Emanuel’s strengths asmayorwas his commitment to building up Chicago’s position as a global center
You might say transportation
for business and tourism. He recognized O’Hare’s key role: If business travelers and tourists find it easy to come and go to points around the world, Chicago will be in a great position to grow. That’s why Emanuel worked hard to nail down a $8.5 billion deal to update the airport.
Emanuel has experience in the bond market, whichwould benefit a transportation secretary because governments use debt to fund infrastructure. He’s got a visionary side, too: He entertained ElonMusk’s futuristic notion of building a superfast underground tube system to whisk passengers in pods between downtown and O’Hare. Crazy, yes, but the future of transportation always sounds fantastical until it becomes reality.
Ocasio-Cortez’s criticism of Emanuel touches on personality but focuses on the political. She is one of the leaders of the progressive wing in Congress. He is a pragmatic, moderate and ambitiousDemocrat— a former investment banker whoworked for President Bill Clinton and once aspired to becomeHouse speaker. The legacy of hisworst days asmayor— the LaquanMcDonald shooting, outof-control violent crime, struggles to implement police reforms— also make him unpopular with progressives.
Biden, of course, won the presidency seeking middle ground. If he thinks Emanuel is a good fit for a cabinet job, we could see it happen. Emanuel’s got the resume to be transportation secretary. And he likes to keepmoving.