What we will get with Joseph R. Biden on the road to actual government will be a great relief and comfort to many, and a cause of eye rolling for some.
He’s a pro in politics and government, which is welcome at the moment, but has its downsides too.
His cabinet selection has so far been as professional as he is – noble and capable, at least in the top jobs.
Antony Blinken will come to the State Department as a well known and respected crowd. He has a long and respected résumé in diplomacy and national security. And he can rebuild a decimated division and quickly mend relationships with allies.
General Lloyd Austin will give knowledge, dignity, and toughness to the defense – another division essential to the security of the nation and another division that needs to be rebuilt.
Janet Yellen is probably the most skilled person in the nation running the Treasury Department and calming the markets. She was the head of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers and the head of the Federal Reserve.
Making Denis McDonough, a former White House chief of staff, head of veterans affairs is actually creative. This is another deeply troubled and currently far too unhelpful and dysfunctional federal behemoth that could stand up to some management.
Other dates seem both strange and cynical. What in the world qualifies Pete Buttigieg to head the Department of Transportation? (And if he thinks the job will help him get into the White House, he’s on a magic carpet.)
Jennifer Granholm, former Michigan governor, has little experience in the energy sector and is unlikely to be a good manager at the Department of Energy because of her performance as governor. It is a non-partisanship, a hack’s hack.
Why would Susan Rice return to the government except to find a place for a loyalist? And why make her head of the Home Affairs Council when she has worked almost exclusively in foreign policy, except that the Home Affairs Council does not play a role?
And how will their shrill and superiority play out in Peoria, Illinois? Lima, Ohio; or Washington, Pennsylvania?
Where Biden clearly thinks the job is important and he’s particularly committed – foreign and military policy, jobs, trade and economics – it was clearly an effort to find the best.
The jobs of the second level, on the other hand, seem to be seen as places where “diversity” can be shown or someone or a block can be paid back.
And that is unfortunate because, for example, the labor secretary can really make a difference. President Gerald Ford briefly had an excellent Secretary of Labor – John Dunlop. He had been a Harvard professor since Franklin Roosevelt and the country’s foremost expert on labor negotiations. It took less than a year to get picked right. The FDR had the best female labor secretary ever – Frances Perkins. She served 12 years.
One person you’d think Biden owed is Bernie Sanders, who is fed up with the Senate and wants to become Secretary of Labor. But the man who promised a “revolution” cannot get a parking ticket from the Biden transition team.
Most of the members of Congress are terrible cabinet members. They have never guided anything but their mouths. But Sanders ran a town – Burlington, Vermont – and did well. In addition, he opposed NAFTA and “free trade”, which should be a requirement for a new democratic labor secretary.
The same pattern can be seen in the appointments of the new president to the EPA and the Home Office, which counts more than the Treasury in the long run. Michael Regan is not only excellent at environmental issues, he’s also worked for the Federal EPA and ran the North Carolina EPA. He is highly qualified. Deb Haaland, the choice for Interior, is only qualified in terms of poetic justice. The interior has been the Native American Oppression Mechanism for years, and she is a Native American woman. But she’s a year-old Congresswoman who was the New Mexico Democratic Party leader. She’s not well qualified while Senator Tom Udall, who finished second for the job, has served in Congress for the Conservation of the West and National Parks for over 20 years.
Biden should name a Republican in the cabinet. How about Pat Toomey for Retail or Small Business?
Biden has gone with people he knows and has sought competence and a renewal of established norms.
Nobody can argue with competence. And it’s great that he knows how government works and what a head of government looks like and acts. Biden knows where the levers of power and interest and (probably) dead weight lie.
But Biden also needs fresh blood and new thinking somewhere in the administration. Places like work, commerce, and home could be good starting points.
Not all things were perfect in Obamaworld. The entire government, from president down, has been too preoccupied with appearance, demeanor, and legacy, and sometimes paralyzed by those concerns.
Not all old norms are that good. That’s how we got Donald Trump.
And retreads aren’t always the answer. Sometimes you have to buy new tires.
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