President-elect Joe Biden is set to announce who will serve in top roles in his administration in the coming days and weeks.
The process began Wednesday with the Biden transition office's announcement that Ron Klain, one of Biden's most trusted campaign advisers, had been tapped to serve as his incoming chief of staff. Long seen as the most likely pick for the top job, Klain previously served as chief of staff to Vice President Al Gore during the Clinton administration and Biden during his tenure as President Barack Obama's vice president.
Each of Biden's Cabinet nominees will need to be confirmed by the US Senate, which is currently controlled by Republicans. Two runoff elections in Georgia on January 5 could determine which party controls the chamber and impact the Cabinet confirmation process.
The Cabinet includes the vice president and the heads of 15 executive departments: Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Justice, Labor, State, Transportation, Treasury and Veterans Affairs.
Several key positions also have Cabinet-level rank: White House chief of staff, Environmental Protection Agency administrator, Office of Management & Budget director, United States Trade Representative ambassador, Council of Economic Advisers chairman and Small Business Administration administrator.
This list will be updated based on conversations with Biden allies and advisers and Democrats with knowledge of the matter.
Photos: Here's who could serve in top roles in the Biden administration
Chief of staff: Ron Klain (announced on Nov. 11)
Updated
Klain, a longtime Biden aide who was a top campaign adviser, served as Biden's chief of staff in the Obama White House and was also a senior aide to the President. He previously served as the chief of staff to Vice President Al Gore and Attorney General Janet Reno. Klain was appointed in 2014 by President Barack Obama to serve as the White House Ebola Response Coordinator. In 2000, he was the General Counsel for the Gore Recount Committee. Klain has been a top debate preparation adviser to Biden, Obama, Bill Clinton, Gore, John Kerry and Hillary Clinton.
Senior White House positions
UpdatedPotential candidate:
Rep. Cedric Richmond
Updated
A co-chair of Biden's transition team and presidential campaign, the Democratic congressman from Louisiana is thought to be under consideration for several roles in the West Wing. Richmond previously served as the chairman of the influential Congressional Black Caucus.
Secretary of State
UpdatedSome top candidates:
Susan Rice
Updated
Rice served in the Obama administration as UN ambassador and national security adviser. She served in Clinton's administration as the special assistant to the president and senior director for African affairs at the White House, the assistant secretary for the Bureau of African Affairs at the State Department and the director of international organizations and peacekeeping at the National Security Council. Rice was one of a handful of women on Biden's shortlist for a running mate.
Rice at one point was thought to be the clear choice to succeed Hillary Clinton as secretary of state, but in 2012 withdrew her name from consideration to avoid a bitter Senate confirmation battle. Rice was the target of Republican criticism after comments she made on Sunday morning TV shows defending the Obama administration's handling of the September 11, 2012, attacks on the Benghazi consulate that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans.
Antony Blinken
Updated
Blinken served in the Obama administration as the deputy secretary of state, assistant to the president and principal deputy national security adviser. He served as the national security adviser to then-Vice President Biden and deputy assistant to the president during Obama's first term. He has been a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and the Democratic staff director at the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.
During the Clinton administration, Blinken served as a member of the National Security Council staff at the White House, and held roles as the special assistant to the president, senior director for European affairs, and senior director for speechwriting and then strategic planning. He was Clinton's chief foreign policy speechwriter.
Blinken is also being considered as national security adviser.
Sen. Chris Coons
Updated
Coons currently occupies the same Delaware Senate seat that Biden held for decades. A longtime Biden ally, Coons was one of the first members of Congress to endorse the former vice president when he declared his 2020 presidential candidacy. Coons sits on the following committees in the Senate: Foreign Relations, Appropriations, Judiciary, Small Business & Entrepreneurship and Select Committee on Ethics. Throughout his Senate career, Coons has been known for working across the aisle and forging strong relationships with high-profile Republicans who shared common interests.
Secretary of the Treasury
UpdatedSome potential candidates:
Lael Brainard
Updated
Brainard currently serves as a member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. She previously served as the Under Secretary of the US Department of the Treasury and counselor to the secretary of the Treasury during the Obama administration. Brainard was the US representative to the G-20 Finance Deputies and G-7 Deputies and was a member of the Financial Stability Board. During the Clinton administration, Brainard served as the deputy national economic adviser and deputy assistant to the President. She also served as Clinton's personal representative to the G-7/G-8.
If chosen, the Federal Reserve governor would be the first woman to hold the powerful position. Brainard is not quite a consensus pick. Party progressives have other favorites, but neither would her nomination set off the kind of internal ideological war the incoming administration surely wants to avoid.
Sarah Bloom Raskin
Updated
Raskin was the deputy secretary of the US Department of the Treasury during the Obama administration. She was previously a governor of the Federal Reserve Board. Prior to joining the Federal Reserve Board, Raskin was the commissioner of financial regulation for the state of Maryland.
Outside of Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Raskin, a former deputy secretary at the department, would be the top choice for most progressives. That she is less well known to the wider political world could also work in favor.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren
Updated
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., speaks during a news conference, Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2020, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Secretary of Defense
UpdatedSome potential candidates:
Michèle Flournoy
Updated
If chosen and confirmed, Flournoy would be the first female secretary of defense. Flournoy served as the under secretary of defense for policy under Obama. Prior to her confirmation, Flournoy helped lead Obama's transition team at the Defense Department. During the mid-1990's, Flournoy served as principal deputy assistant secretary of defense for strategy and threat reduction, as well as deputy assistant secretary of defense for strategy. She co-founded the Center for a New American Security, a bipartisan think tank, and WestExec Advisors, a strategic advisory firm. Flournoy was a senior advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Secretary of Homeland Security
UpdatedSome potential candidates:
Alejandro Mayorkas
Updated
Mayorkas was deputy secretary of Homeland Security during the Obama administration, and served as the director of the Department of Homeland Security's United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. While at USCIS, Mayorkas oversaw the implementation of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which was an executive action under Obama that protected young undocumented immigrants who came to the US as children from deportation. President Donald Trump moved to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program in 2017 and was ultimately blocked by the Supreme Court from doing so.
Lisa Monaco
Updated
Monaco played a critical role in Biden's vice presidential selection committee, and served as Homeland Security and counterterrorism advisor to Obama. Prior to that job, Monaco served as an assistant attorney general for national security at the Department of Justice, and was a chief of staff to then-Director of the FBI Robert S. Mueller III.
Attorney general
UpdatedSome potential candidates:
Sen. Doug Jones
Updated
Jones is the junior United States Senator from Alabama. He lost his reelection bid earlier this month to Republican Tommy Tuberville. President Bill Clinton appointed Jones as US Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama, and Jones was the lead prosecutor suing KKK members responsible for the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing. Jones was also involved in the prosecution of Eric Rudolph, whose 1998 attack on a Birmingham abortion clinic killed an off-duty police officer.
Sally Yates
Updated
Yates was fired by Trump from her role as acting attorney general. The stunning move came after CNN and other outlets reported that Yates told Justice Department lawyers not to make legal arguments defending Trump's executive order on immigration and refugees. Trump's executive order, signed in January 2017, barred citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States for the following 90 days, suspended the admission of all refugees for 120 days and indefinitely suspended the Syrian refugee program. The executive order was later blocked by a federal judge, but the Supreme Court ultimately upheld a revised version of the ban.
Yates had been appointed by Obama and was set to serve until Trump's nominee for attorney general was confirmed.
Secretary of the Interior
UpdatedPotential candidate:
Rep. Deb Haaland
Updated
Haaland is a congresswoman from New Mexico, and is one of the first Native American women to serve in Congress. Biden has said he wants an administration that looks like the country. Haaland, the vice chair of the House Natural Resources Committee, would be the first Native American Cabinet secretary if she were to get an offer and accept it. Haaland also leads the Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands.
Secretary of Labor
UpdatedSome potential candidates:
Sara Nelson
Updated
Nelson is the international president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA. She cemented her image as a rising star of the labor movement during a prolonged government shutdown that stretched from December 2018 to January 2019. During the shutdown, Nelson appeared on cable television and used social media to warn of the dangers of not paying airport workers, and called for a general strike at an AFL-CIO gathering in January.
Sen. Bernie Sanders
Updated
Sanders is reaching out to potential supporters in labor to ask for their support as he mounts a campaign for the job. But he is viewed as a long shot and so far has received mix reactions from labor leaders. In his public comments before and after the election, he focused on a 100-day agenda for the Congress. But with Democrats likely needing to win both Georgia runoffs to take control of the Senate, running a powerful agency might have become more appealing.
Sanders told CNN's Wolf Blitzer on Wednesday that if Biden asked him to join his Cabinet as Labor secretary, he would accept the nomination. "If I had a portfolio that allowed me to stand up and fight for working families, would I do it? Yes, I would," Sanders said.
Boston Mayor Marty Walsh
Updated
Walsh is AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka's pick for the job, a big endorsement in what could soon turn into a contentious debate between moderate Democrats and progressives, who will favor Sen. Bernie Sanders or Michigan Rep. Andy Levin. Walsh grew up in a union family and became a top Boston labor leader before being elected mayor.
Rep. Andy Levin
Updated
Levin is a popular progressive who is also growing his base of support with labor leaders, including at the Communications Workers of America. The United Auto Workers are also likely allies going forward for the Michigan congressman. Like Walsh, Levin has a background as an organizer with major unions. But he also has credibility with climate activists for having helped create Michigan's Green Jobs Initiative.
Health and Human Services Secretary
UpdatedPotential candidate:
Vivek Murthy
Updated
Murthy, a doctor of internal medicine, is the co-chair of Biden's coronavirus advisory board. He previously served as the US surgeon general after being nominated by Obama. He resigned in April 2017 at the request of the Trump administration. He was confirmed by the Senate after facing opposition from Senate Republicans for calling to treat gun violence as a public health issue.
Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary
UpdatedPotential candidate:
Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms
Updated
Bottoms is the mayor of Atlanta and is a rising star of the Democratic Party. Bottoms stepped into the national spotlight when she denounced vandalism in her city as "chaos" after demonstrations over the death of George Floyd, a Black man who was killed by police in Minneapolis. Bottoms is a former judge and city council member. She was considered as a potential running mate for Biden.
Secretary of Education
UpdatedPotential candidate:
Randi Weingarten
Updated
Weingarten is the president of the American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO and has long pushed for education reform. Prior to holding that role, she was the president of the United Federation of Teachers, AFT Local 2. Weingarten served on an education reform commission put together by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. She also chaired New York City's Municipal Labor Committee.
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency
UpdatedPotential candidate:
Jay Inslee
Updated
Inslee is the governor of Washington state, and previously served in the US House of Representatives. He was a Democratic presidential candidate in the 2020 election. Inslee is dedicated to addressing climate change and other environmental issues, and made the environment the central focus of his 2020 presidential bid. While in the US House of Representatives, he served on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and on the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming.
UN ambassador
UpdatedPotential candidate:
Pete Buttigieg
Updated
Buttigieg is the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, and a former 2020 Democratic presidential candidate. Buttigieg's presidential bid was historic -- he was the first out gay man to launch a competitive campaign for president, and he broke barriers by becoming the first gay candidate to earn primary delegates for a major party's presidential nomination.
