Biden needs to build team that meets all goals
President-elect Joe Biden has a lot to accomplish in building out his administration once he becomes president.
WASHINGTON >> Shortly after President- elect Joe Biden’s victory last month, Cabinet hopeful Marcia Fudge pointedly noted that Black people are often typecast into positions such as housing secretary.
On Friday, Biden announced Fudge, a prominent Black congresswoman from Ohio, was his nominee for that very role. She was introduced alongside Biden’s pick for the job she initially sought, head of the Agriculture Department. That went instead to Tom Vilsack, a 70-year-old white man who already spent eight years in the position during the Obama administration.
Those nominations highlight the competing priorities Biden is facing as he fills out the top ranks of his administration. He’s pledged to nominate the most diverse Cabinet in history and restore experience at beleaguered federal agencies. He’s seeking to reward loyalists who have stood with him throughout his lengthy career and give opportunities to new voices in the Democratic Party.
Each of his nominees has to win confirmation in a narrowly divided Senate that could be controlled by Republicans, depending on who wins two runoff races in Georgia next month. The GOP has barely acknowledged Biden’s victory so the cooperation of its senators in the confirmation process is far from certain.
“There’s a lot of pressure, and part of the reason you saw such big turnout is that people are eager for change from the Trump years,” said Democratic strategist Karen Finney. “That creates a lot of high expectations.”
The challenge won’t get easier. Biden is facing a decision on attorney general that will come under intense scrutiny from Black leaders, who want someone with a background in civil rights advocacy, and Republicans who are demanding political independence as Biden’s son, Hunter, faces a federal investigation into his finances.
Some of those tensions emerged last week during a meeting between Biden and civil rights leaders who pressed the incoming president to diversify his Cabinet and warned about the Vilsack pick in particular. Vilsack has been criticized for the firing of department official Shirley Sherrod, who is Black, during his last stint at the USDA, a move he later apologized for.
NAACP President Derrick Johnson warned Biden that the Vilsack selection could hurt Black turnout in the critical Georgia contests.
“Vilsack could have a disastrous effect on voters in the state of Georgia,” NAACP President Derrick Johnson told Biden during the meeting, which was private.
Audio was leaked to The Intercept, which released excerpts.
Biden bristled at such concern, saying, “Let’s get something straight, you shouldn’t be upset.”
“What I’ve done so far is more than what anyone else has done this far,” he added. “I mean what I say.”
The president- elect has several more Cabinet posts to fill, and has made history with some of his early selections. He nominated retired Army Gen. Lloyd Austin to be the first Black person to lead the Pentagon, while picking California Attorney General Xavier Becerra to be the first Latino to lead the Health and Human Services Department. His nominee for U. S. trade envoy, Katherine Tai, was born in Connecticut to Taiwanese parents.
But those choices were announced after African Americans, Latinos and Asian Americans in Congress voiced concerns that their perspectives may not be fully represented in the new administration. Some nominees will face other hurdles, most notably Austin who needs a waiver to fill the civilian role leading the Pentagon. That’s a step some Democrats have historically opposed.