On Tuesday, Joe Biden officially unveiled his first coupon for cabinet posts.
A Senate Republican said Biden’s choice is “he got into Ivy League schools, has strong resumes, attends relevant conferences, and will be polite and orderly caretakers of America’s decline”.
Another he mocked that the list of names resembled a guest list of a “dinner at Georgetown”.
But most, less partial observers agreed that after four years of chaos under Donald Trump, who himself is a self-appointed outsider, a dose of insider knowledge and institutional stability may be just what Washington needs.
Here are five things we’ve learned so far about Biden’s choices.
Experience matters …
“Even if it’s not household names,” the Washington Post said, “Biden’s choices are soaked in the roads” in the capital, knowing the location, Donald Trump’s collection of political allies, businessmen, donors, griffins, gadgets and relatives did not.
Tony Blinken, the Secretary of State’s candidate, for example, worked alongside Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, as well as Biden, when he was vice president of Obama. Janet Yellen, who is now heading for the Treasury, was president of the Federal Reserve. John Kerry, the climate change envoy, was a Massachusetts senator for 28 years, ran for president in 2004, and served as Secretary of State in Obama’s second term.
Less prominent positions are not even named or tried. Homeland Security Adviser Jake Sullivan was “only” 43 years old, but worked for Hillary Clinton when she was Secretary of State and Biden when she was Vice President. Appointed Director of National Intelligence, Avril Haines is a former deputy head of the CIA, deputy national security adviser and deputy senior adviser to the Senate Democrats.
… But it also worked for Obama
Experience can also bring baggage. Biden worked for 44th president, and many of his employees, according to Politico’s Tuesday report, were a little upset, some of whom were working on the Biden campaign this time around.
“Obama employees are now cutting out the people who elected Biden,” a website quoted a senior Biden official as saying. “None of these people found the courage to help the vice president when he ran, and now they are raising their friends above the Biden people. It sucks.
Another Biden consultant working on the campaign, Politico, said the criticism was “very valid”.
There are major positions to be held, including the Minister of Defense and the Attorney General. Unlike many progressive dreams, Obama himself will not fill them. Promoting his memoir, the former president ruled out any role under Biden. If he did, he says his wife, Michelle, would leave.
Internationalism is back
One potentially positive side of relying on Obama’s alumni is the fact that Obama was world president, intending to build close ties with allies as well as traditional enemies, an approach far removed from Trump Trump’s American attacks and an alarming habit of leaning towards dictators. . In short, people like Blinken, Yellen, and Kerry are already in close contact with the heads and officials of the international center, who are desperate for the restoration.
“Tony Blinken’s relationship with Europe is lifelong, deep and personal,” Politico Europe wrote on Tuesday, discussing his almost flawless French past life in Paris, his skepticism of Brexit and his status as a “staunch supporter of the transatlantic alliance.”
“On all major foreign policy issues – terrorism, climate, epidemics, trade, China, the Iranian nuclear deal – it has a recurring mantra: the United States must work with its allies and within international treaties and organizations.”
Diversity matters …
Post Biden’s victory was “something like revenge for the Washington facility,” but the Democrat has so far kept his promise to name an administration that reflects American diversity much more strongly than Trump.
Biden’s Candidate for Homeland Security candidate, Alejandro Mayorkas, is a Cuban American who spoke about his experience as a child of immigrants. Linda Thomas-Greenfield will not be the first woman of color to be ambassador to the United Nations – Susan Rice and Nikki Haley have also filled the post – but she was the top black American diplomat until Trump fired her.
According to the news, Biden was close to appointing Michèle Flournoy as the first woman to become Secretary of Defense, simply because she was striking in her absence when naming her first names. According to reports, Jeh Johnson, Obama government’s Secretary of Homeland Security may be the first black defense chief.
… but also politics
Many of Biden’s choices played a prominent role in the development and implementation of policies pursued by previous administrations, which Trump used as rocket fuel for his rise to the White House based on a complaint.
“They helped negotiate the Paris Climate Agreement and the Iranian nuclear deal,” he wrote of Post Biden’s candidates. “They supported the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade agreement that was part of a strategic scenario for Asia. Trump cut it all apart.
Now, “amid the coronavirus epidemic and the simultaneous economic collapse, this populist strip has not diminished. Trade deals will be harder to implement than years ago, and the nation seems to have little appetite for foreign intervention. “
Biden became the first president to receive more than 80 million votes. But Trump only got 6m less. For many Americans, Biden and colleagues win.
