Rice named domestic policy adviser
WASHINGTON – President-elect Joe Biden has chosen Susan Rice to be director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, a surprise choice that will give the foreign policy veteran a hefty domestic portfolio.
Biden also has selected Denis Mcdonough, White House chief of staff under President Barack Obama, as secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs, though Mcdonough has never served in the military.
Rice has extensive national security experience, but she has not been heavily involved in domestic policymaking.
Rice was seen as a top contender to be Biden’s secretary of state, but she would have faced a difficult confirmation battle. As head of Biden’s Domestic Policy Council, Rice will have broad sway over everything from health policy to immigration to rural affairs.
Biden’s campaign said the presidentelect chose Rice because she “knows government inside and out” and will “turbocharge the effort to build back better.”
Rice’s appointment is also a signal Biden wants his domestic and foreign policy advisers to work hand in hand. He has touted the idea of creating a “foreign policy for the middle class” that takes into account the domestic impact of international trade, globalization and other international issues. Biden’s announcement specifically noted Rice’s experience working with the National Security Council.
“Rice is among our nation’s most senior and experienced government leaders with the skills to harness the power of the federal government to serve the American people,” Biden said in his announcement. “As a former member of the Cabinet, she also understands the challenges and opportunities of running an agency and has extensive experience working with other key members of the Biden-harris White House team.”
Rice’s allies say she is a tough-asnails negotiator. As a Black woman – her father is a descendant of slaves, and her mother is a child of Jamaican immigrants – Rice’s nomination also reflects Biden’s push to assemble a diverse Cabinet and staff.
Rice, 56, served as Obama’s ambassador to the United Nations and then as his national security adviser. In 2012, Rice was in the running to replace Hillary Clinton as secretary of state, but she bowed out amid fierce GOP opposition. Republicans hammered Rice for her initial description of the attack on a U.S. consulate in Benghazi, which left U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans dead.
After that attack, Rice appeared on five Sunday talk shows, during which she said the deadly Sept. 11, 2012, incident seemed to have started as a spontaneous protest sparked by an anti-islam video made in the U.S. The Obama administration later said the attack was a well-organized terror plot.
Mcdonough, the VA nominee, was chief of staff throughout Obama’s second term. He was previously Obama’s deputy national security adviser, including during the Navy SEAL raid in 2011 that killed al-qaida leader Osama bin Laden, and was a longtime congressional staffer.
Contributing: Associated Press