Biden gearing up for a diverse cabinet?

[Dominus]

^ You're right. I suspect the republican controlled senate will obstruct Biden even more than Obama.

 

[fabulouslyghetto]

How many of Biden's nominations will have to go through the senate confirmation process? Does the senate still have a Republican majority and, if so, how likely is it that some nominees will fail to be confirmed?

Mega likely, but here's hoping...

 

[TX-Beau]

McConnel has already said he's going to oppose anyone he thinks is too radical, which is going to mean everyone. They think that's going to handicap the White House.

 

[opinterph]

Yes, Republicans will still be in control of the Senate.

Maybe.

Should the Democrats pull out a win in both Georgia Senate races, a party-line vote would then result in a 50-50 tie in the chamber. Importantly, the Vice President would then cast a deciding vote in the Senate; in this case Vice President-elect Kamala Harris’ vote would give Democrats the edge, including control of the chamber’s powerful Majority Leader position.

Who Will Control the U.S. Senate in 2021? (American Public Media; November 23, 2020)

 

[NotHardUp1]

Blocking nominees would only be grandstanding, as the Senate cannot prevent the president from having acting cabinet members in lieu of confirmed, and it's self-defeating to prevent the administration from staffing.

Nominees have been confirmed unless there was some actual scandal, such as Judge Bork's role in the Saturday Night Massacre.

 

[TX-Beau]

Blocking nominees would only be grandstanding, as the Senate cannot prevent the president from having acting cabinet members in lieu of confirmed, and it's self-defeating to prevent the administration from staffing.

Nominees have been confirmed unless there was some actual scandal, such as Judge Bork's role in the Saturday Night Massacre.

First off, no it's not grandstanding and it will play very well with all of those voters out there who believe Hugo Chavez stole the election for Biden.

I find it odd you seem to think McConnel plays by any rules but his own.

 

[KaraBulut]

Not a cabinet position, but it's worth noting that the Congressional Democrats just elected an openly gay man to be the chair of their fundraising committee, the DCCC.

Sean Patrick Maloney married his husband in 2014 and they have 3 adopted children of differing races and ethnicities.

The fact that a married, openly gay man with an interracial family was elected to such a visible position without it being all over the news is a big change.

House Democrats elect Sean Patrick Maloney as DCCC chairman [CNN]

 

[rareboy]

I have to think that being a cocksucker just really isn't a thing anymore. Good for BidenCo. though to get more lgbtq visibility across the Admin.

When he announced the selection for the 'Social' secretary position for the White House, I admit I rolled my eyes a bit.

 

[KaraBulut]

...When he announced the selection for the 'Social' secretary position for the White House, I admit I rolled my eyes a bit.

And when the press commented that Carlos Elizondo was openly gay, I thought to myself, "Guuuuurrrrrllll. Hundreds of the administrative staff in Congress are gay. It's not exotic for staffers in DC."

It's the elected people who are in the closet.

 

[fkaMPHNX7]

On the heels of Trumpstaff they could have a few DUIs and credit card fraud on their record and be currently facing domestic violence and possession of heroin charges and they wouldn't be as controversial.

I dunno why I immediately imagined JT and Caresha in his cabinet.

But really at this point, Biden could nominate Rolling Ray as Secretary of Transportation and it would still be an upgrade from the incompetent ghouls in T****’s cabinet.

After four years of McConnell & Co. gleefully going along with all of the chaos from this outgoing administration, it’s going to be interesting to watch them change course and nitpick every single one of Biden’s nominees.

 

[rareboy]

I dunno why I immediately imagined JT and Caresha in his cabinet.

But really at this point, Biden could nominate Rolling Ray as Secretary of Transportation and it would still be an upgrade from the incompetent ghouls in T****’s cabinet.

After four years of McConnell & Co. gleefully going along with all of the chaos from this outgoing administration, it’s going to be interesting to watch them change course and nitpick every single one of Biden’s nominees.

Pretty much this.

It will be nice having adults back in the West Wing.

 

[fabulouslyghetto]

I dunno why I immediately imagined JT and Caresha in his cabinet.

But really at this point, Biden could nominate Rolling Ray as Secretary of Transportation and it would still be an upgrade from the incompetent ghouls in T****’s cabinet.

After four years of McConnell & Co. gleefully going along with all of the chaos from this outgoing administration, it’s going to be interesting to watch them change course and nitpick every single one of Biden’s nominees.

Memo: democrats have used all their "We TRIED to do the right/progressive thing but republicans blocked us" card. If they let the republicans stop theor appts I swear to god...

 

[ClubLevelVegan]

Memo: democrats have used all their "We TRIED to do the right/progressive thing but republicans blocked us" card. If they let the republicans stop theor appts I swear to god...

It's their "get out of jail free card."

 

[KaraBulut]

Memo: democrats have used all their "We TRIED to do the right/progressive thing but republicans blocked us" card. If they let the republicans stop theor appts I swear to god...

Usually, there's one appointment that has to be withdrawn with each new administration... usually for some reason like they had an undocumented worker working as a nanny, etc. This helps the Senators feel like they are big powerful men who can punish appointees they don't like.

This year, they are going after Neera Tanden because she said mean things about Republicans on Twitter. Apparently, Republicans are scared of mean tweets.

Given the Rogue's gallery of nutjobs and incompetent appointees they have rubber stamped since 2016, using the excuse, "Presidents have the right to appoint the people they want", they don't have a lot of room to get their tits all in a knot over the career professionals that Biden is appointing.

I do like Marco Rubio whining that the appointees are elites with Ivy League degrees. Poor Marco and his inadequacies.

 

[KaraBulut]

Not cabinet positions but the Press Office hires are a pretty diverse bunch. All female. Several have young children.

One selection- Karine Jean Pierre, is the daughter of Haitian immigrants and openly gay. Her partner is CNN anchor Suzanne Malveaux.

 

[unloadonme]

Not cabinet positions but the Press Office hires are a pretty diverse bunch. All female.

Is that what they call an oxymoron?

 

[KaraBulut]

Is that what they call an oxymoron?

Only if you assume all women are the same?

I've been listening to some special interest groups who have also been doing a Goldilocks fretting over the particulars of the the high level Biden appointees. It completely misses two salient points: the goal is to find the best candidates and the only way to have diverse "best candidates" is to hire them into staff positions so that they develop the skills needed for executive positions.

The thing that is notable about the Press shop hires is that these are qualified candidates who happen to be women of different races and sexual orientations. That was possible because a a decades or more ago someone hired them and gave them a chance instead of dismissing them because "they'll just have babies and quit in a couple of years" or because "they need a man in charge because a woman in that job won't be respected".

These "diverse" appointees only happened because Clinton, Obama and to a lesser extent Bush 43 looked at a more diverse pool of candidates for lower level positions and gave them a start in their public service careers.

 

[unloadonme]

Only if you assume all women are the same?

My point was to question how the selection could possibly be diverse when the 50% of the population which is male is excluded. It's a diverse group of women, but it's not diverse.

 

[fkaMPHNX7]

Memo: democrats have used all their "We TRIED to do the right/progressive thing but republicans blocked us" card. If they let the republicans stop theor appts I swear to god...

And this is why I’m not convinced Dems will be able to sustain this momentum into the runoffs, the 2022 midterms and beyond.

I swear they are so comfortable with keeping their heads in the sand allowing the GOP to control the narrative. They refuse to fight back and play the GOP at their own games even after being shown the cards. That “when they go low, we go high” mentality only serves the best interests of the right. Dems give too much credit to the public expecting them to know better and sus out the bullshit when in reality, it just comes down to who makes the loudest, consistent noise.

Dems imo need to lace up their boxing gloves, start fighting dirty and unify around a message that sticks with the mass public.

 

[Dominus]

I must admit I am pleasantly delighted to see the new Biden-Harris team. Quite a change from a bunch of old grumpy white men.