Cabinet picks are missed chance for change
As the 2020 Democratic primaries were heating up last year, then-candidate Joe Biden assured his wealthy campaign donors in Manhattan that “nothing would fundamentally change” for their luxurious standard of living under his presidency. Based on the majority of his Cabinet picks, he wasn’t kidding. Biden will maintain a cozy relationship with corporate America by lubricating the hinges of the ever revolving door of politics.
Take Antony Blinken, Biden’s choice for secretary of State. In 2017, Blinken transitioned out of the Obama administration and founded a consulting firm called WestExec Advisors. The majority of its staffers — 21 out of 38 — personally donated to Biden’s campaign.
Was Blinken chosen for the job because he’s best suited, or is Biden trading favors based on fundraisers and donations? And aside from the deal-making taking place in plain sight, Blinken’s opaque work at WestExec Advisors could be rife with conflicts of interest.
While it’s clear this consulting firm’s services mostly revolve around helping corporate clients and defense contractors win favorable government treatment, little is known about its client list because its staffers aren’t considered lobbyists. They’re labeled strategic advisers, which means they don’t have to disclose whom they’re working for.
As The Intercept noted, the Biden team is squandering an opportunity for reform by sticking to conventional nominees like Avril Haines for director of national intelligence. While serving in the CIA under the Obama administration, Haines was an architect of the disastrous drone program that killed hundreds of innocent civilians. Later, Haines worked as a consultant for WestExec Advisors and Palantir — a controversial data mining firm that has provided the Trump administration intel to perform mass deportations.
Janet Yellen, tapped to be Treasury secretary, is another example. When Politico reported that Yellen made $7.2 million in the past two years for giving closed-door speeches to Wall Street firms, Biden supporters brushed it off as a misogynistic attack. But we should all agree Americans deserve to know about any lucrative ties that politicians and government officials have to bankers and hedge funds.
Some Biden nominees, such as Tom Vilsack for Agriculture secretary and Neera Tanden for Office of Management and Budget director, are even more insulting given the backdrop of economic destruction. The pandemic has decimated the financial stability of tens of millions of workers. About 8 million Americans have fallen into poverty since just last summer.
Biden tapping into his Rolodex of old corporate buddies is a bad look. For anyone who suggests that the incoming Cabinet is an improvement over the monstrosity we experienced with the Trump administration, it’s only fair to acknowledge how pathetically low our standards have become.