Biden: Cabinet picks from Obama era mean ‘bold new thinking’
WILMINGTON, DEL. » PresidentJoe Biden on Friday introduced a series of key picks for his new government that drew heavily from the Obama administration, saluting their “deep experience” while insisting he could rely on them for “bold new thinking.”
Appearing with Biden were his choice for director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, Susan Rice, who served as President Barack Obama’s national security adviser and U.N. ambassador; and Denis McDonough, Obama’s White House chief of staff,
now nominated as veterans affairs secretary.
His choice for agriculture secretary, Tom Vilsack, served in the same post for Obama for eight years.
Biden’s selection for housing chief, Ohio Rep. Marcia Fudge, had been championed by some leading African American members of Congress and civil rights activists for agriculture secretary,
in an effort to overhaul how the government combats hunger nationwide. Biden seemed to acknowledge that, saying she could “do many jobs beyond the one I’m asking her to do.”
“Some are familiar faces. Some are new in their roles. All are facing new circumstances and challenges. That’s a good thing,” Biden said during an event at a theater in Wilmington, Del. “They bring deep experience and bold new thinking. Above all, they know how government should and can work for all Americans.”
Relying too heavily on Obama administration veterans has already begun to draw some grumbling from members of Biden’s party, however. Obama was first elected on promises to move beyond partisan politics, but saw some major policy goals crash into an uncooperative Congress, especially after Republican gains in the 2010 midterms.
Some progressives feel the Obama team should have been bolder in its efforts to remake government and worry that Biden will fall into the same trap.
Mark Riddle, a Democratic strategist who founded a pro-Biden Super PAC during the 2020 presidential campaign, said there is no danger in relying too heavily on “all star” former Obama administration leaders. But he advised Biden’s team to prioritize controlling the coronavirus pandemic, to spur economic growth, rather than having arguments over social policies that might allow congressional Republicans to more easily block sweeping policy initiatives.
“The success or failure of the administration out of the box is going to be, do they focus on jobs?” Riddle
said. “If we come out of the box on jobs, jobs, jobs, I feel great. If we are about a bunch of other, say, progressive ideals, we could be right back where we were.”
Biden called Vilsack “the best secretary of agriculture I believe this country’s ever had,” and Vilsack, former governor of the farming state of Iowa, talked about bringing assistance to rural areas. But he also pledged Friday to ensure that every child nationwide has “access to safe, affordable, nutritious food.”
Fudge said that under her direction, the Department of Housing and Urban Development will ensure people know “that their government cares about them.”