While President-elect Joe Biden has promised to have the most diverse Cabinet in history, his selections so far have not met the expectations of many of his supporters. Facing pressure to diversify his Cabinet further, Biden met virtually with civil rights leaders on Tuesday.
His picks so far include Antony Blinken for Secretary of State, Janet Yellen, who would serve as the country’s first female Treasury Secretary, and Gen. Lloyd Austin who would be the country’s first Black Secretary of Defense.
The president-elect also plans to officially announce Tom Vilsack as his choice for Secretary of Agriculture, a position he held during President Obama’s administration, and Ohio Rep. Marcia Fudge as his pick for Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, making her his second African-American Cabinet selection.
Rep. Gwen Moore (D., Wis.), a member of the Congressional Black caucus, defended Biden’s nominations, many of whom will face potentially contentious confirmation hearings if Republicans retain control of the Senate after the Georgia runoff election on Jan. 5.
“Diversity is more than just race or gender,” Moore told Yahoo Finance. “I think Biden has done a wonderful job. Just take Janet Yellen, for example. [She represents] diversity because she is absolutely the very first woman who would ever be Treasury Secretary. But she’s also the first person who’s ever been as competent as she’s been.”
Yellen served as chair of the Federal Reserve from 2014 to 2018 and was chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisors during President Clinton’s administration.
Moore pointed to the lack of former Democratic 2020 presidential candidates among Biden’s cabinet selections as another potential source of frustration among his supporters.
While reports previously suggested that Sen. Elizabeth Warren might be under consideration for Treasury Secretary, Sen. Bernie Sanders for Labor Secretary and former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg for Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Biden has not yet offered any of them a position.
“Perhaps people are concerned about whether or not some of their favorite presidential candidates were in the mix for positions,” said Moore.
“Biden has explained very carefully that we can’t afford to clean out the Senate nor the House of Representatives to fill his cabinet when there are so many qualified people ready and able to serve,” she said. “It is amazing to think that we’re back [in the White House] and the United States is back in business.”
Moore, like many of her colleagues, is now focused on Georgia and the possibility that Democrats could gain control of the Senate and be more willing to provide financial relief to Americans amid the pandemic.
“I don’t think that we’re in much of a bargaining position, given that we don’t have a president at this moment who will sign the bill that would be the best bill for us,” said Moore, referring to stalled stimulus package negotiations.
Top Democrats rejected the White House’s latest $916 billion proposal on Tuesday, pointing out that it slashed unemployment benefits from $180 billion – which was in the bipartisan proposal – to $40 billion.
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