SFDanny Posted January 9, 2021 Share Posted January 9, 2021 @DMC You are absolutely right about the difference between the Vice-President and the rest of the Cabinet, although she is still part of the body and her inclusion in it is vitally important and is as old as the Cabinet itself. If nothing else, the inaction of Pence concerning removal of Trump through the mechanism of the 25th Amendment shows the importance of her inclusion. But, I understand the point you're making, and don't disagree that in evaluating Biden's commitment to diversity it is important to note that these are the choices he is making once he has won the office and is showing who he wants advising him and has confidence in carrying out the duties of the Executive Branch. I would argue that his choice for Vice-President was even more important than the accumulated total of his decisions on filling out his Cabinet. Both tremendously important, but the choice of Harris was, in my opinion, the critical choice thus far. If Biden does choose a woman to be the director of the CIA, I think he has a right to boast of the first Cabinet with equal representation of men and women. I would have rather it included more women, especially as you point out in the 15 Cabinet proper positions. My understanding is that Clinton holds the record of nine women serving at one time in Cabinet level positions, so this would an important step forward if Biden actually not only breaks that record from the start of his administration (assuming they all are confirmed) but that he would, for the first time, achieve an equal number of men and women in the Cabinet. But I am getting ahead of myself. Let's see who he picks for CIA first before I praise him too loudly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMC Posted January 9, 2021 Author Share Posted January 9, 2021 25 minutes ago, SFDanny said: although she is still part of the body and her inclusion in it is vitally important and is as old as the Cabinet itself. If nothing else, the inaction of Pence concerning removal of Trump through the mechanism of the 25th Amendment shows the importance of her inclusion. Definitely. Again, I'm not arguing the VP is part of the Cabinet. My point is counting the VP as part of the president's Cabinet selection process because of the fundamental differences between the VP and all other Cabinet officials - and how they're selected. 27 minutes ago, SFDanny said: don't disagree that in evaluating Biden's commitment to diversity it is important to note that these are the choices he is making once he has won the office and is showing who he wants advising him and has confidence in carrying out the duties of the Executive Branch. I would argue that his choice for Vice-President was even more important than the accumulated total of his decisions on filling out his Cabinet. Both tremendously important, but the choice of Harris was, in my opinion, the critical choice thus far. Yup, entirely agreed on both counts. That's why I distinguish between the two. Plus, in the case of Harris, I think it's kind of cheap because it's giving Biden credit twice. By omitting Harris, I view it as pressuring Biden to include more diversity in the Cabinet selections as he can't include her in the count of women, blacks or asians. 30 minutes ago, SFDanny said: If Biden does choose a woman to be the director of the CIA, I think he has a right to boast of the first Cabinet with equal representation of men and women. Yeah, sure. It's a minor and rather pedantic quibble of mine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpaceChampion Posted January 9, 2021 Share Posted January 9, 2021 Not a cabinet post, but in these days fairly important: open source developer named White House Director of Technology, who will be in charge of cybersecurity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMC Posted January 9, 2021 Author Share Posted January 9, 2021 5 minutes ago, SpaceChampion said: Not a cabinet post, but in these days fairly important: open source developer named White House Director of Technology, who will be in charge of cybersecurity. That photo in the link makes him look like Seth Rogen's long-lost twin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SFDanny Posted January 11, 2021 Share Posted January 11, 2021 Biden is saying he is done with his cabinet picks. He is also saying that for the first time there are an equal number of women and men, twelve each, in his cabinet. The only way I get this number is with the CIA director not being a member of his cabinet, and one among his male nominees not being a member of the Cabinet. My guess is that Kerry is the most likely person to fill that bill. Male Cabinet members Tom Vilsack, Secretary of Agriculture Lloyd Austin, Secretary of Defense Miguel Cardona, Secretary of Education Xavier Becerra, Secretary of Health and Human Services Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary of Homeland Security Marty Walsh, Secretary of Labor Merrick Garland, Attorney General Antony Blinken, Secretary of State Pete Buttigieg, Secretary of Transportation Denis McDonough, Secretary of Veterans Affairs Michael Regan, Director of the Environmental Protection Agency Ron Klain, Chief of Staff Female Cabinet members Kamala Harris, Vice President Gina Raimondo, Secretary of Commerce Jennifer Granholm, Secretary of Energy Marcia Fudge, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Deb Haaland, Secretary of Interior Janet Yellen, Secretary of the Treasury Avril Haines, Director of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence Neera Tanden, Director of the Office of Management and Budget Isabel Guzman, Administrator of the Small Business Administration Linda Thomas-Greenfield, United Nations Ambassador Kathrine Tai, United States Trade Administrator Celia Rouse, Chairwoman of the Council of Economic Advisors Is this right? Or am I'm missing what Biden is saying in his opening remarks announcing the last of his cabinet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMC Posted January 11, 2021 Author Share Posted January 11, 2021 2 hours ago, SFDanny said: The only way I get this number is with the CIA director not being a member of his cabinet, and one among his male nominees not being a member of the Cabinet. My guess is that Kerry is the most likely person to fill that bill. It's quite possible CIA director will not be Cabinet-level. Before Trump, I believe the only other presidents that designated the post Cabinet-level were Clinton and Reagan. I don't think Kerry's post is the one that isn't Cabinet-level, the transition has been quite clear that it is a Cabinet-level post. Perhaps Biden's accounting may exclude Klain as CoS. I don't know, sure there will be more clarification in the future, hard to go off of only those remarks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SFDanny Posted January 11, 2021 Share Posted January 11, 2021 2 hours ago, DMC said: It's quite possible CIA director will not be Cabinet-level. Before Trump, I believe the only other presidents that designated the post Cabinet-level were Clinton and Reagan. I don't think Kerry's post is the one that isn't Cabinet-level, the transition has been quite clear that it is a Cabinet-level post. Perhaps Biden's accounting may exclude Klain as CoS. I don't know, sure there will be more clarification in the future, hard to go off of only those remarks. I do think we can be sure that the Cabinet is done. We can also be sure the Director of the CIA will not be part of it. Not a change I've seen announced, but pretty clear it is one that has been made. It makes sense with the creation of the ODNI that would be the case. All intelligence agencies to report to Haines, and her to represent them in the Cabinet.I would still think Biden would want to make a change at the CIA, but that is another question entirely. In fact, I would expect Biden to clear out almost all of Trump's appointees. The notable exception probably being Wray. Which gets me to one big surprise in the Cabinet - no Republicans. It's a surprise I like, but not one I expected. You may well be right that Kerry is in, and Klain is out, but without further explanation I can only guess which one of them is in. All the rest of the white men, are Senate confirmed long established Cabinet positions. It has to be a white male who is out to make Biden's claim that the cabinet is majority people of color true. Still, it is curious that if it was Biden's aim to take the Chief of Staff out of the Cabinet it would not have been reported when Klain's name was first reported. I'm still interested in how the sub cabinet level appointees turn out. Any ideas of who will be the Solicitor General? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMC Posted January 11, 2021 Author Share Posted January 11, 2021 21 minutes ago, SFDanny said: I do think we can be sure that the Cabinet is done. We can also be sure the Director of the CIA will not be part of it. Not a change I've seen announced, but pretty clear it is one that has been made. It makes sense with the creation of the ODNI that would be the case. All intelligence agencies to report to Haines, and her to represent them in the Cabinet.I would still think Biden would want to make a change a the CIA, but that is another question entirely. I agree that it appears CIA director will no longer have Cabinet rank. That makes sense considering it didn't under Obama either. As for DNI, I'm fairly sure it didn't have Cabinet rank either until Trump - which is rather ironic considering there were rumors shortly after he was elected that he wanted to abolish the position entirely. (As evidence, see here where it is omitted from Obama's official list of Cabinet officials.) Frankly, and cynically, I suspect the main reason Biden is retaining DNI as Cabinet rank is cuz he put Haines there and it ups the diversity quotient. While ostensibly (and statutorily) the CIA director reports to the DNI since the latter's creation, I wouldn't read too much into that or one having Cabinet rank and the other not in terms of which one is more influential/relied upon within the administration. That remains to be seen. And, well, even after the fact is always pretty murky given the inherent opaqueness of the intelligence community. In terms of making a change at CIA - yes, I still completely 100% expect him to replace Haspel. Why the delay, who knows? Could be a number of reasons. But just because he's demoting it from Cabinet rank doesn't mean he's not gonna want his own person there, just like every other president. My speculation about Klain is more based on Biden doing some fuzzy accounting, and thus justifying not counting the position because it's in the WHO and doesn't have a policy portfolio. Still be somewhat surprised if he officially demotes the CoS from Cabinet rank. Even if he does, wouldn't read much into it at all. The CoS, and particularly Klain as CoS, is going to wield incredible influence within the administration whether his designation technically entitles him to attend pro forma Cabinet meetings or not. Good question about solicitor general, I was surprised the position wasn't announced with Garland and all the rest. Wish I could speculate on who he's considering, but can't find much of anything online myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SFDanny Posted January 11, 2021 Share Posted January 11, 2021 Here's the new CIA director. William Burns is his name. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMC Posted January 11, 2021 Author Share Posted January 11, 2021 7 minutes ago, SFDanny said: Here's the new CIA director. William Burns is his name. Heh, yeah saw that this morning and after our conversation earlier my immediate reaction was like "well that was quick." Interesting he chose a Foreign Service careerist. I like it, but have to imagine that's not gonna go over too well with a lot of entrenched officials. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SFDanny Posted January 11, 2021 Share Posted January 11, 2021 4 minutes ago, DMC said: Heh, yeah saw that this morning and after our conversation earlier my immediate reaction was like "well that was quick." Interesting he chose a Foreign Service careerist. I like it, but have to imagine that's not gonna go over too well with a lot of entrenched officials. I was struck by that as well, but it is hardly the first time an outsider has been tapped to head the CIA. The optics of coming from the Carnegie Endowment for Peace to head the CIA as rather a stark change. But I think the other parts of his history led to this choice. Quote Burns also served as under secretary of State for political affairs from 2008-2011, U.S. ambassador to Russia from 2005-2008, assistant secretary of State for Near Eastern affairs from 2001-2005, U.S. Ambassador to Jordan from 1998-2001, and as the department’s executive secretary from 1996-1998. That he is not a career CIA officer seems to be a plus from my point of view. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMC Posted January 11, 2021 Author Share Posted January 11, 2021 6 minutes ago, SFDanny said: I was struck by that as well, but it is hardly the first time an outsider has been tapped to head the CIA. Oh yeah, there's been plenty of "outsiders," one way or another, appointed over the years. What's surprising is it's a careerist coming from another turf. And the fact that that turf is the state department is, I think, unprecedented. And yeah, I very much like the idea that as a careerist in the Foreign Service he brings comparative expertise but from a much different approach than (obviously) the agency is accustomed to. Plus, the fact that David Ignatius, who broke the news, is on board is good enough for me on its own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fez Posted January 11, 2021 Share Posted January 11, 2021 Some people get all the luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMC Posted January 11, 2021 Author Share Posted January 11, 2021 4 minutes ago, Fez said: Some people get all the luck Ha! Why in the hell is Tom Vilsack playing powerball?!? He needs to be investigated as a degenerate gambler! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SFDanny Posted January 11, 2021 Share Posted January 11, 2021 38 minutes ago, DMC said: Ha! Why in the hell is Tom Vilsack playing powerball?!? He needs to be investigated as a degenerate gambler! I guess I should confess I have a $2 winner sitting on my desk right now just waiting for me to cash it in and reap the bounty! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMC Posted January 11, 2021 Author Share Posted January 11, 2021 Just now, SFDanny said: I guess I should confess I have a $2 winner sitting on my desk right now just waiting for me to cash it in and reap the bounty! Don't spend it all at once! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SFDanny Posted January 11, 2021 Share Posted January 11, 2021 Just now, DMC said: Don't spend it all at once! I'm not sure I can not do that. What costs less than $2 these days? Used to be I could buy a cup of coffee and a morning newspaper for that, but it has been a long time since that was true Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fez Posted January 11, 2021 Share Posted January 11, 2021 Just now, SFDanny said: I'm not sure I can not do that. What costs less than $2 these days? Used to be I could buy a cup of coffee and a morning newspaper for that, but it has been a long time since that was true Buy another powerball ticket. Reinvest those winnings! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DMC Posted January 11, 2021 Author Share Posted January 11, 2021 2 minutes ago, SFDanny said: What costs less than $2 these days? A bottle of water, juice, soda? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SFDanny Posted January 11, 2021 Share Posted January 11, 2021 1 minute ago, Fez said: Buy another powerball ticket. Reinvest those winnings! Yes! my payment of the dream tax by those of us not understanding basic math. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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