Joe Biden cabinet speculation megathread

[brucejoel99]

Sorry to bump, this is really the only appropriate 'Cabinet' (mega-?)thread I could think to post it in:

https://twitter.com/SalehaMohsin/status/1291368167470751745

This certainly made my Thursday better!

[McGarnagle]

Negative if that scumbag Bloomberg is in consideration at all

[Ancestral Republican]

Leaks like this proves that there is no room for progressives in a Biden administration.

Dimon especially is absolutely horrific. One of the most unvarnished pieces of corporate trash this country has.

[Bomster]

We need progressives in high places. We need to stop making every president a war criminal with our foreign policy. We need to dismantle the military industrial complex. We need to put money back in americans hands. We need to tackle climate change aggressively. We need prison reform and police reform. Simply reverting to “a third Obama term”, which infinitely better than Trump’s term, is not acceptable. We must make up for our sins, and live up to the nation we want to be.

[WD]

Leaks like this proves that there is no room for progressives in a Biden administration.

Dimon especially is absolutely horrific. One of the most unvarnished pieces of corporate trash this country has.

People who work in places like JPMorgan or Goldman Sachs should be no where near Biden’s cabinet.

[GeneralMacArthur]

Why are people commenting on this four-month-old thread as though it's anything more than the kind of random, baseless speculation we've grown accustomed to surrounding the Biden campaign?

Biden is gonna do what he wants and nobody is going to see any of it coming.  There are no leaks, and nobody knows a thing about what's going on in his mind or campaign.

[brucejoel99]

Why are people commenting on this four-month-old thread as though it's anything more than the kind of random, baseless speculation we've grown accustomed to surrounding the Biden campaign?

Biden is gonna do what he wants and nobody is going to see any of it coming.  There are no leaks, and nobody knows a thing about what's going on in his mind or campaign.

Ahem:

Sorry to bump, this is really the only appropriate 'Cabinet' (mega-?)thread I could think to post it in:

https://twitter.com/SalehaMohsin/status/1291368167470751745
This certainly made my Thursday better!

[GeneralMacArthur]

That's only one post, the other posts are about Bloomberg and Dimon from the original post.

[Ferguson97]

Leaks like this proves that there is no room for progressives in a Biden administration.

Dimon especially is absolutely horrific. One of the most unvarnished pieces of corporate trash this country has.

What's wrong with Dimon? He seems smart.

[Bomster]

Honestly I feel like no CEO or anyone with corporate ties should be anywhere near consideration for a cabinet position.

[President Johnson]

Honestly I feel like no CEO or anyone with corporate ties should be anywhere near consideration for a cabinet position.

Depends on which CEO. A greedy employee-abusing guy? Of course not. A compassionate, competent and pragmatic leader who knows how to effectively run an organization and to get things done? Yeah! Political experts are important, but I think some cabinet jobs or other high positions should be filled with people who have practical expertise in the field. Business credentials can be helpful in running agencies, especially those related the economic and financial issues. Armed services members/veterans are good for defense-related stuff, just as a Secretary of Education with actual classroom experience makes sense. Governments in general need more experts rather than political hacks.

[Bomster]

Honestly I feel like no CEO or anyone with corporate ties should be anywhere near consideration for a cabinet position.

Depends on which CEO. A greedy employee-abusing guy? Of course not. A compassionate, competent and pragmatic leader who knows how to effectively run an organization and to get things done? Yeah! Political experts are important, but I think some cabinet jobs or other high positions should be filled with people who have practical expertise in the field. Business credentials can be helpful in running agencies, especially those related the economic and financial issues. Armed services members/veterans are good for defense-related stuff, just as a Secretary of Education with actual classroom experience makes sense. Governments in general need more experts rather than political hacks.

I guess, although I feel most CEOs are more likely to be greedy dirtbags. I just don’t like the outsized influence money has on politics. I mean our President is a businessman. My republican family members are like “he’s a businessman he knows how to run an economy” even now.

[Brandern]

SO....Return to normal is continuing to stock government with "Too Big To Fail" Bank Executives who are supposedly "geniuses" but ran their banks into the ground and got bailed out?

Makes me sick...

[President Johnson]

Honestly I feel like no CEO or anyone with corporate ties should be anywhere near consideration for a cabinet position.

Depends on which CEO. A greedy employee-abusing guy? Of course not. A compassionate, competent and pragmatic leader who knows how to effectively run an organization and to get things done? Yeah! Political experts are important, but I think some cabinet jobs or other high positions should be filled with people who have practical expertise in the field. Business credentials can be helpful in running agencies, especially those related the economic and financial issues. Armed services members/veterans are good for defense-related stuff, just as a Secretary of Education with actual classroom experience makes sense. Governments in general need more experts rather than political hacks.

I guess, although I feel most CEOs are more likely to be greedy dirtbags. I just don’t like the outsized influence money has on politics. I mean our President is a businessman. My republican family members are like “he’s a businessman he knows how to run an economy” even now.

"The president" is not a businessman. He's a showman who pretends to be a businessman. Most things he has done have failed, let alone moral issues and how he has defrauded businesspartners. This is certainly not a role model here. There are others, even rich ones, who have built a company from the stretch and have done a lot of good for society.

As an example, I think Melinda Gates is an interesting figure for some government role. Another less known one: Mike Rawlings, who endorsed Joe early on, was Mayor of Dallas after he served as CEO of Pizza Hut. He's also engaged in various efforts against domestic violence. With his business and government expertise, I think he'd be a good choice for a number of cabinet jobs. Just to mention two names out of many.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

Bloomberg, Dimon, Finucane, and to an only slightly lesser extent Kerry and Rice?

The Revenge of the Beige Dictatorship! Only glimmer in the list is Warren, and she's not even close to enough. Replacing a bunch of stupid, sadistic and malicious billionaires and willing sockpuppets for the 0.1% with a bunch of competent, amoral and ruthless billionaires and willing sockpuppets for a slightly different slice of the 0.1% is an improvement, but an extremely marginal one. Formally announcing this immediately ignites the fuse on an internal Democratic civil war for control of the party and its future. Simultaneously, it virtually guarantees another Donald Trump, only perhaps one who isn't so stupid and incompetent. 

Still, if that's Biden's plan, I hope he announces it soon after he (hopefully) wins the election. Four years should be enough time for an orderly departure from what will inevitably become the smoking ruins of the United States.

[brucejoel99]

Mods, can this formally be made a Cabinet tea leaves (or something along those lines?) megathread? Or would that belong in U.S. General Discussion?

In any event, Politico has a new write-up on the potential Biden Cabinet: https://www.politico.com/news/2020/08/21/joe-biden-cabinet-picks-397905

Notable names mentioned include:

- Susan Rice at State
- Elizabeth Warren at Treasury
- Eric Garcetti at Transportation or HUD
- Karen Bass at HUD or HHS
- Pete Buttigieg as UN Ambassador or at the VA

[KaiserDave]

I still believe Warren is better in the Senate.

I was glad to hear Sherrod Brown is advising on the creation of the cabinet.

[Ferguson97]

Secretary of State: Susan Rice

Secretary of Defense: Michele Flournoy

National Security Advisor: Ely Ratner

[President Johnson]

With Susan Rice at State, he would have another black woman in the thrid-highest position of the cabinet. And then a black woman to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg. This is amazing. I also hope and am very optimistic, Mayor Pete will get a major job like the ones mentioned. He's a talented guy with great potential.

I'd actually be fine with Liz Warren as Treasury Secretary; she'll do a good job at going after corruption and tax reform (though I hope the deficit will be addressed). I'm just not sure whether she actually wants the job rather than staying in the senate. She's in a safe seat and could stay how long she wants.

I also hope Doug Jones will get the Justice Department. He is too good of a man to return to private life should he lose. I also want Andrew Cuomo in a role, preferably Chief of Staff.

[KaiserDave]

With Susan Rice at State, he would have another black woman in the thrid-highest position of the cabinet. And then a black woman to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg. This is amazing. I also hope and am very optimistic, Mayor Pete will get a major job like the ones mentioned. He's a talented guy with great potential.

I'd actually be fine with Liz Warren as Treasury Secretary; she'll do a good job at going after corruption and tax reform (though I hope the deficit will be addressed). I'm just not sure whether she actually wants the job rather than staying in the senate. She's in a safe seat and could stay how long she wants.

I also hope Doug Jones will get the Justice Department. He is too good of a man to return to private life should he lose. I also want Andrew Cuomo in a role, preferably Chief of Staff.

Cuomo is going for the fourth term as governor without a doubt.

[President Johnson]

With Susan Rice at State, he would have another black woman in the thrid-highest position of the cabinet. And then a black woman to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg. This is amazing. I also hope and am very optimistic, Mayor Pete will get a major job like the ones mentioned. He's a talented guy with great potential.

I'd actually be fine with Liz Warren as Treasury Secretary; she'll do a good job at going after corruption and tax reform (though I hope the deficit will be addressed). I'm just not sure whether she actually wants the job rather than staying in the senate. She's in a safe seat and could stay how long she wants.

I also hope Doug Jones will get the Justice Department. He is too good of a man to return to private life should he lose. I also want Andrew Cuomo in a role, preferably Chief of Staff.

Cuomo is going for the fourth term as governor without a doubt.

Still hope he goes to Washington. He'd do a great job there and New York could finally have a female governor.

[catographer]

I want policy experts in charge of key agencies, not politicians.

[brucejoel99]

I want policy experts in charge of key agencies, not politicians.

Eh, Cabinet secretaries should still be political appointees if necessary, because their job is organizational management. You don't need to be a doctor to run HHS; you just need to be able to competently run a large organization, & in doing so, they're performing inherently political tasks when they decide on the policies & objectives of their departments, so they need to be informed & guided by what they were appointed to do. The technocratic career officials & civil servants are the ones who hammer out the details & application, as should be their job.

Look at it this way: is Tim Cook an expert in hardware development? No, his background is in supply chains & logistics. He doesn't need to know the details about the latest advances in chip technology; that's what his staff is for, & cabinet secretaries tend to have very competent staffs of career professionals.

[politics_king]

If Biden gets a 51-49 Senate, then I can see Warren getting offered the Treasury spot. Ideally you want the Democrats to come in with 53 to 55 Senate seats to give more wiggle room.

[brucejoel99]

If Biden gets a 51-49 Senate, then I can see Warren getting offered the Treasury spot. Ideally you want the Democrats to come in with 53 to 55 Senate seats to give more wiggle room.

Is this supposed to be "can't"? Because if it's as close as 51-49, then any unnecessary Senate vacancy probably isn't worth risking.