Picking Biden's Cabinet

[SFDanny]

Interesting development with Pelosi and a possible Haaland nomination at Interior.

[SFDanny]

It looks like Michael Regan is the pick to head the EPA. The Washington Post is reporting the pick has been made.

[DMC]

Very happy Haaland finally got picked.  With her and Regan we're down to six left and still no AG....

[SFDanny]

1 hour ago, DMC said:

Very happy Haaland finally got picked.  With her and Regan we're down to six left and still no AG....

She is a truly historic pick. Wonderful. Just Wonderful.

Justice, Education, Labor, Commerce, Small Business Administration are the ones left. All of which may well be women. My guess is the AG may be a man. Although, a part of me would love to see Sally Yates as AG if for no other reason than to piss off the Republicans in the Senate. I know that shouldn't be the goal, but their preemptive attacks on her, and their warnings to Biden not to name her, make me want her more than I should.

Oops, left out CIA Director.

[DMC]

1 minute ago, SFDanny said:

Justice, Education, Labor, Commerce, Small Business Administration are the ones left. All of which may well be women. My guess is the AG may be a man. Although, a part of me would love to see Sally Yates as AG if for no other reason than to piss off the Republicans in the Senate.

Don't leave out CIA, gods know what will happen to you!  I agree all may well go to women.  Education seems almost a certainty - although Miguel Cardona was recently mentioned as a longshot contender by WaPo.  The Asian lobby appears to have upped the pressure for Su at Labor in recent days.  Most of the main candidates for Commerce appear to be women (Hobson, Burns, Whitman).  SBA, who knows, but the apparent offer of Lance Bottoms suggests maybe he's looking for a woman.

I think he should pick Yates if only to even out the gender split on the Big Four.  But, as you mentioned, the GOP's signaling of serious opposition may well scare Biden based on his tepid (some would say feckless) selection process thus far.  It'd be nice if he didn't kowtow to the GOP and actually put up a fight, but I don't see it happening.  Lisa Monaco is an alternative female selection that shouldn't draw as much ire.  Regardless, if he fills most of the other posts with females perhaps their numerical advantage will lessen the sting of less representation at the high profile posts (I personally include HHS and Homeland with the Big Four when referring to "high profile/level," both of which went to males).

One final personal thought (pure speculation on my part) on CIA.  With Donilon apparently out and Morrell fraught due to the EIT history, mayhaps you put Flournoy in there.  Ups the female quota, would be a good dress rehearsal and signal that she's next in line for DoD, and if he wants to go all in on mimicking Obama she can be like Panetta at CIA then taking over the Pentagon two years later.

[SFDanny]

18 minutes ago, DMC said:

Don't leave out CIA, gods know what will happen to you!  I agree all may well go to women.  Education seems almost a certainty - although Miguel Cardona was recently mentioned as a longshot contender by WaPo.  The Asian lobby appears to have upped the pressure for Su at Labor in recent days.  Most of the main candidates for Commerce appear to be women (Hobson, Burns, Whitman).  SBA, who knows, but the apparent offer of Lance Bottoms suggests maybe he's looking for a woman.

I think he should pick Yates if only to even out the gender split on the Big Four.  But, as you mentioned, the GOP's signaling of serious opposition may well scare Biden based on his tepid (some would say feckless) selection process thus far.  It'd be nice if he didn't kowtow to the GOP and actually put up a fight, but I don't see it happening.  Lisa Monaco is an alternative female selection that shouldn't draw as much ire.  Regardless, if he fills most of the other posts with females perhaps their numerical advantage will lessen the sting of less representation at the high profile posts (I personally include HHS and Homeland with the Big Four when referring to "high profile/level," both of which went to males).

One final personal thought (pure speculation on my part) on CIA.  With Donilon apparently out and Morrell fraught due to the EIT history, mayhaps you put Flournoy in there.  Ups the female quota, would be a good dress rehearsal and signal that she's next in line for DoD, and if he wants to go all in on mimicking Obama she can be like Panetta at CIA then taking over the Pentagon two years later.

Yes, I'm bolting all my doors as I write! As if I could stop the CIA from doing anything. 

Su would be a great pick at Labor, and there is pressure to have her get the job. There needs to be a AAPI pick to the Cabinet proper, and she looks like best person for this job. Again, Biden needs to stay away from another nominee from the House.

Either of the two teacher union candidates would be fine by me, but my bias has always been with the AFT. NEA has a "professional association" bias in it's history that has always angered too many in Labor. I can't really hold that against Lily Eskelsen García though. Randi Weingarten would be great as well. Perhaps you know the new names being floated, but I don't know much about their histories other what I can google.

Still think Whitman is almost a lock for Commerce. Hobson would be much better. Justice seems to change every other day. SBA -  I haven't a clue.

I do like your idea about Flournoy. Perhaps the CIA is listening.

[DMC]

53 minutes ago, SFDanny said:

Either of the two teacher union candidates would be fine by me, but my bias has always been with the AFT. NEA has a "professional association" bias in it's history that has always angered too many in Labor. I can't really hold that against Lily Eskelsen García though. Randi Weingarten would be great as well.

Your preference for AFT over NEA is interesting.  My preference for Eskelsen over Weingarten is almost solely due to diversity concerns.  Right now Biden only has two Hispanic appointees - Becerra and Mayorkas - that's a pretty weak showing out of the 25 Cabinet-level posts.  And it doesn't appear any are in line for any of the other still open positions.  ETA:  Oh, I guess Tom Perez for Labor.  I hope not, but with Biden leaning into the Obama reboot guess that is still a distinct possibility.

I agree after the Haaland appointment Biden's probably reached his cap on MCs, meaning Levin is out at Labor.

[SFDanny]

Ok, I've got the nominee at CIA for this crowd, David "Varys" Cohen. Alright, I made up the nickname, but to understand why you have to read to the bottom of the article about him. I'll give you a hint. It's not because of his love for ping pong.

[DMC]

5 hours ago, SFDanny said:

Alright, I made up the nickname, but to understand why you have to read to the bottom of the article about him.

LOL.  But yeah, as I mentioned a couple weeks ago, Cohen is the obvious choice since Donilon and Morrell probably aren't options anymore.

[SFDanny]

2 hours ago, DMC said:

LOL.  But yeah, as I mentioned a couple weeks ago, Cohen is the obvious choice since Donilon and Morrell probably aren't options anymore.

But did you mention his side gig? If you did, I missed it, and I'm sorry. I will gladly give you credit for such in depth research on the man.

[DMC]

2 minutes ago, SFDanny said:

But did you mention his side gig?

Heh, I definitely did not, and was not aware.

[SpaceChampion]

10 hours ago, SFDanny said:

Ok, I've got the nominee at CIA for this crowd, David "Varys" Cohen. Alright, I made up the nickname, but to understand why you have to read to the bottom of the article about him. I'll give you a hint. It's not because of his love for ping pong.

I thought it was going to say something about "removed, root and stem".

Regarding Pete:  Kamala didn't want him elevated too much, to avoid competition in 2024.

[SFDanny]

1 hour ago, SpaceChampion said:

I thought it was going to say something about "removed, root and stem".

I have to ask, what kind of websites do you think I frequent? 

1 hour ago, SpaceChampion said:

Regarding Pete:  Kamala didn't want him elevated too much, to avoid competition in 2024.

If that was the criteria I don’t think he would be in the cabinet.

[SpaceChampion]

21 minutes ago, SFDanny said:

I have to ask, what kind of websites do you think I frequent? 

Sketchy forums built around a gritty fantasy book series where characters are castrated against their will.

[shortstark]

19 hours ago, SpaceChampion said:

Sketchy forums built around a gritty fantasy book series where characters are castrated against their will.

"Against their will" 

Has there ever been a willing castrati? 

[Ran]

1 hour ago, shortstark said:

"Against their will" 

Has there ever been a willing castrati? 

So, of the castrati singers, I'm unsure. But in the Ming dynasty era of China, there were many eunuchs who chose to have themselves castrated so that they could become employed at the imperial palace, as it was something of a prerequisite. 

[Ormond]

3 hours ago, shortstark said:

"Against their will" 

Has there ever been a willing castrati? 

Well, yes. There were devotees of the goddess Cybele, called Galli, who castrated themselves as part of her worship.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galli#Religious_practices

And I am sure there are other examples -- before modern times there are probably some instances of desperate male-to-female transgender persons who castrated themselves.

[DMC]

Axios has a piece detailing Lance Bottoms' turning down of the SBA job.  Per the report, Biden tried to personally convince her to take the job earlier this week while campaigning in Georgia and she again refused.  Have to say, I agree with her in terms of her future interests/prospects.  I had her at HUD in the OP, but I said I wasn't sure that was enough of a step up from mayor of Atlanta from her perspective.  I definitely don't think SBA would be.

[DanteGabriel]

4 minutes ago, DMC said:

Axios has a piece detailing Lance Bottoms' turning down of the SBA job.  Per the report, Biden tried to personally convince her to take the job earlier this week while campaigning in Georgia and she again refused.  Have to say, I agree with her in terms of her future interests/prospects.  I had her at HUD in the OP, but I said I wasn't sure that was enough of a step up from mayor of Atlanta from her perspective.  I definitely don't think SBA would be.

I wonder if there is some kind of old guard Dem instinct to devour their young, steer promising local leaders into dead-end jobs. The Democratic leadership is too old and I don't see good successors waiting in the wings. I do think Pelosi has been effective from a position of not-that-much leverage for the last few years. Not without her mistakes, of course, but I just don't have confidence that someone else would have done better. Schumer, please just someone replace him already.

It'll never happen, but I would love to see a Speaker Ocasio-Cortez. What she could do with the power and platform, it'd just be fascinating to watch.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

7 minutes ago, DanteGabriel said:

I wonder if there is some kind of old guard Dem instinct to devour their young, steer promising local leaders into dead-end jobs. The Democratic leadership is too old and I don't see good successors waiting in the wings. I do think Pelosi has been effective from a position of not-that-much leverage for the last few years. Not without her mistakes, of course, but I just don't have confidence that someone else would have done better. Schumer, please just someone replace him already.

This is a larger problem with society. 

Quote

It'll never happen, but I would love to see a Speaker Ocasio-Cortez. What she could do with the power and platform, it'd just be fascinating to watch.

I wouldn't. Maybe in 10 years, but not next month.