Fantasy Draft: President Biden's Cabinet Edition

[activeStick]

While Trump will undoubtedly fight this to the end, and probably January 19, 2021, the majority have spoken and Biden will be sworn in on January 20 as the President of the United States.

The Cabinet includes VP plus 15 heads of various departments including Secretaries of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Labor, State,#Transportation, Treasury, and Veterans Affairs, as well as the Attorney General. I believe Security of Technology was a role at one point but has since been eliminated.

Who are your fantasy picks for roles in Biden's Cabinet? Maybe you have people in mind for specific roles or you just know you want a person in some role in the Cabinet.

Share your predictions and win bragging rights on CP! Bad form, I know, but I'll get to posting my response later.

At this point, I know I would like to see Andrew Yang in either the Secretary of Labor role or in a Secretary of Technology role, Elizabeth Warren in some role (she could qualify for many) and Bernie somewhere as well. A good group of progressives in Warren and Bernie and a guy in Yang, who in my view appeals to both sides. I'd want to be mindful of not promoting too many strong Democrats into cabinet positions as the Democrats still need strong people in the Senate and House. Does Stacey Abrahams get drafted into a spot? Or would you leverage her somewhere else to continue to bring out the vote? Beto?

[Fuzz]

The Rock for secretary of defense, obviously.
Elon Musk for Transportation.
The rent is to damn high guy for Housing and Urban Development.
Saul Goodman for Attorney General.

That's a start.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Still want Obama for state but would be fine with Susan Rice.

[Looch City]

Something to further triggers the snowflakes, so maybe some Hillary and AOC?

[Harry Lime]

Andrew Yang as Labor, he is one of the few Democrats with a realist view of how the economy effects people on the ground.

Elizabeth Warren as Veterans Affairs, she is a people person, and should be in the highest profile position without any real power. As horrible as that sounds, she is a little too aggressively progressive for this administration.

Bernie Sanders for Education. The Republicans have locked up the Justice system, with no way to correct it as long as they hold the Senate. The only way to hold equal sway is through education, and honestly I am interested to see what Bernie could do with the portfolio. This could end up being the defining characteristic of Biden's Presidency, if Bernie is given leeway.

Pete Buttigieg as the Interior. Might be the most Republican of the Democrats, and they need to start rebuilding.

Past that, I would like to see portfolios go to the most qualified, and not the most public. I'd be happy if the government is full of people that no one knows who the hell they are. That would mean that they are the best people for the job, and not the best politicians.

[vegasbound]

Not Cabinet but Rep. Katie Porter to replace Kamala Harris' Senate seat. Pipe dream because they can't afford to give up her seat in Orange County. Katie AND the white board!

[Lanny_McDonald]

Secretary of Agriculture - Heidi Heitkamp

Attorney General - Preet Bharra

Director of the Central Intelligence Agency - Avril Haines

Secretary of Commerce - Meg Whitman

Secretary of Defense - Michele Flournoy

Secretary of Education - Elizabeth Warren

Secretary of Energy - Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall

Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency - Heather McTeer Toney

Secretary of Health and Human Services - Dr. Vivek Murthy

Acting Secretary of Homeland Security - Xavier Becerra

Secretary of Housing and Urban Development - Mellody Hobson

Secretary of the Interior - John Kaisch

Secretary of Labor - Bill Spriggs

Director of the Office of Management and Budget - Pete Buttigieg

Director of National Intelligence - Sally Yates

Administrator of the Small Business Administration - Julie Su

Secretary of State - Susan Rice

Secretary of Transportation - Jeff Flake

Secretary of the Treasury - Roger Ferguson

U.N. Ambassador - Juan Gonzalez

U.S. Trade Representative - Jimmy Gomez

Secretary of Veterans Affairs - Tammy Duckworth

[activeStick]

I like the suggestions of Warren for Secretary of Education. Makes a lot of sense with her being a teacher before. Also like the idea of putting people with real world experience into the various roles that nobody has heard about before, though I still think you need people who interview well and demonstrate they can operate in a political environment since that is the role they're going into.

[Lubicon]

Originally Posted by activeStick

The Cabinet includes VP plus 15 heads of various departments including Secretaries of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Labor, State,#Transportation, Treasury, and Veterans Affairs, as well as the Attorney General. I believe Security of Technology was a role at one point but has since been eliminated.

Share your predictions and win bragging rights on CP! Bad form, I know, but I'll get to posting my response later.

Meanwhile in Canada we need nearly 40 cabinet ministers for a country 1/10th the population.

[Lanny_McDonald]

Originally Posted by Lubicon

Meanwhile in Canada we need nearly 40 cabinet ministers for a country 1/10th the population.

Very different form of government and very different level of responsibilities the government is willing to take on.

[flamesfan1297]

New Era, did you get that off somewhere or do you genuinely know all those names? Not agreeing or disagreeing with what you said, just genuinely impressed if you know all that

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by flamesfan1297

New Era, did you get that off somewhere or do you genuinely know all those names? Not agreeing or disagreeing with what you said, just genuinely impressed if you know all that

Don't be to impressed! He picked Meg Whitman for Secretary of Commerce, who spent several years absolutely cratering HP into the ground. Ask anyone who worked for HP(or dealt with them) during those years how they feel about her...put some ear muffs on first.


Oh, and the incredibly successful Quibi, if you want a more recent example.

[peter12]

Originally Posted by New Era

Very different form of government and very different level of responsibilities the government is willing to take on.

Not really. The inflation of Canadian cabinet is a relatively new phenomenon - especially relative to caucus size - and has more to do with catering to certain regions and demographics.

[JohnnyB]

I like Warren, but I hate the idea of her as Secretary of Education. Give it to someone with a background in systems leadership in primary and secondary education. Don't give it to a law prof. Education policy is not her area of expertise. She would be a better fit as secretary of labor or even commerce.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Biden should NOT put any republicans on his cabinet (or only in low profile low consequence post). These team of rivals ideas are just PR. You don’t want ideological differences to become an obstruction and source of tension.

If McConnell blocks, he has to wear it then they use Vacancies Act (creatively) to put people through. The cabinet needs to work like well oiled machine out of the gate - don’t risk gumming it up by trying to make conservatives happy (they are perpetually dour).

[Lanny_McDonald]

Originally Posted by flamesfan1297

New Era, did you get that off somewhere or do you genuinely know all those names? Not agreeing or disagreeing with what you said, just genuinely impressed if you know all that

I picked people I know about. That knowledge was informed by lots of articles over the years and working in government and hearing who are the informers with substantive positions in certain areas. I think these names are pretty common and are likely to be on the short list by anyone who is a political junkie or informed in any way. They all have connections to the Democrats and are all subject matter experts in their fields. I could have probably done a B list as I think there are a couple people for each position, or a person that could fill in for multiple positions (Sally Yates and Pete Buttigieg are examples). I'm hoping I hit maybe three or four of these positions. And don't forget, Mitch McConnell will have his say and will block anyone he doesn't like (say good bye to the majority of my picks).

[Lanny_McDonald]

Originally Posted by peter12

Not really. The inflation of Canadian cabinet is a relatively new phenomenon - especially relative to caucus size - and has more to do with catering to certain regions and demographics.

Also has a lot to do with Canadian's strong support of federalism and the American's belief in state's rights. Hard to have a large cabinet when the people don't believe the gubmint has a right to tell you what to do.

[peter12]

Originally Posted by New Era

Also has a lot to do with Canadian's strong support of federalism and the American's belief in state's rights. Hard to have a large cabinet when the people don't believe the gubmint has a right to tell you what to do.

Dude, Canadians do not have a strong support for federalism. We have a politics dominated by regionalism - even more than you do. Canadian provinces are incredibly strong - in many respects, more than states.

[Azure]

Our provincial rights are so strong we lose billons of dollars each year due to inter provincial trade barriers.

[dino7c]

Secretary of the Being a D-bag - Donald Trump