Progressive frustrations are mounting as President-elect Joe Biden nominates long-time allies and moderate supporters for Cabinet positions and agency jobs, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez warned an over-reliance on the “moneyed political establishment” by the new administration could backfire on Democrats.
“The Biden administration is bringing back a lot of Obama appointees, which, depending on where you are in the party, may sound nice, I guess,” Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., told The Intercept in an interview posted Wednesday. “But I think what a lot of people fail to remember is that we now have a Biden administration that’s bringing back a lot of Obama appointees, but when Obama was making appointments, he was bringing back a lot of Clinton appointees.”
Biden promised the most diverse Cabinet in history and he has chosen several women and people of color for key roles, but his choices thus far have often angered civil rights groups and liberals. Many Cabinet nominees have been older establishment figures, with younger and more progressive appointees relegated to lower-level positions.
According to The Washington Post, about 80% of the people announced for White House or agency positions under Biden have been alumni of either the Obama campaign or administration. As of Sunday, the average age of his Cabinet-level nominees was 63.
Progressive groups complained that Biden chose former Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to reprise that role over Rep. Marcia Fudge, D-Ohio, who was instead chosen to head the Department of Housing and Urban Development. They have also lobbied heavily for Rep. Deb Haaland, D-N.M., to be nominated as interior secretary, but Biden’s team is still weighing its options for that job.
Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont has publicly demanded more progressive representation in the Cabinet, noting that the movement was vital to Biden’s victory and makes up a significant faction of the Democratic coalition. He expects that to be reflected in Biden’s staffing decisions, and that has not yet been the case.
"I have not seen people from the progressive movement per se in the Cabinet,” Sanders said in an interview with MSNBC this week.
Biden made his youngest Cabinet pick yet Tuesday, naming former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg as his nominee for transportation secretary. Buttigieg was one of the more centrist contenders for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, and his past consulting work for McKinsey has stirred suspicions on the left.
The announcement drew mixed reactions, with some progressives questioning the former small-town mayor’s qualifications. Buttigieg would be the first openly gay nominee confirmed to lead a Cabinet department, and the Biden campaign presented him as a “barrier-breaking” leader who revived South Bend and would do the same for America’s infrastructure system.
“An innovative problem solver and trailblazing public servant, Mayor Pete is deeply committed to bringing people together and upgrading our transportation system in a way that serves Americans of all backgrounds and communities of every size — urban and rural — across our country,” Vice President-elect Kamala Harris said in a statement.
As Biden turns to filling out his team to handle energy and environmental policy, liberal groups continue to push for a more progressive agenda. He is reportedly considering former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm to head the Department of Energy and former Environmental Protection Agency chief Gina McCarthy as climate policy czar.
“The team that we’ve put together has been a combination of experienced, crisis-tested leaders, many of whom have served in government previously, which the president-elect and vice president-elect see as invaluable at this time,” incoming White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters at a briefing Friday.
According to Ross Baker, a political scientist at Rutgers University and author of “Is Bipartisanship Dead?,” Biden faces a difficult balancing act satisfying the various factions in his party while putting together a team that suits his agenda.
“He’s got to harmonize this in a way that’s consistent with his own philosophy of governing, which is very definitely centrist,” Baker said. “At the same time, he can’t ignore the groups that worked hard to get him elected.”
Baker observed Biden has distanced himself from top priorities of progressive activists like the Green New Deal and defunding the police. He is unlikely to put advocates of those policies at the forefront of his administration, but he cannot risk disrespecting and alienating them, either.
“He’s got to allow them into the tent, but not very close to the campfire,” Baker said.
Part of the challenge for Biden in making Cabinet decisions is that he does not yet know who will control the Senate that holds confirmation hearings for his nominees. The Senate majority will be determined by two runoff elections in Georgia next month.
If Democrats win both races, the chamber will be split 50-50, with Vice President-elect Harris casting the deciding vote, which would give Biden some leeway to make more progressive choices. If Republicans hold on to at least one seat, though, a united GOP caucus could block anyone Biden puts forward if they deem them too liberal.
“Are you ready to vote for the two senators that are doers and not roadblocks?” Biden said at a rally for Democratic candidates Jon Ossoff and Rev. Raphael Warnock in Atlanta Tuesday. “Are we ready to vote for two senators who will fight for progress, and not just in the way of progress? Are you ready to vote for two senators who know how to say ‘yes,’ not just the word, ‘no?’”
In the meantime, some of Biden’s other choices are likely to further aggravate the left. Axios reported Wednesday the president-elect is considering “well-known Republicans” like former Hewlett-Packard CEO Meg Whitman to run the Commerce Department.
As polls show most GOP voters believe without evidence that Biden stole the election, aides hope putting a Republican in the Cabinet would help soothe tensions. However, President Barack Obama tried something similar with his Cabinet and got little long-term political benefit from nominating Republicans.
Given that mindset and Biden’s more moderate temperament, he might not be inclined to veer toward more contentious progressive picks even if Democrats control the Senate. Baker cautioned that getting more ideologically extreme nominees confirmed still would not be a “slam dunk” with 50 Democratic senators, pointing to Trump Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, who was confirmed with a tiebreaking vote by Vice President Mike Pence after two Republicans voted against her.
“When you have that narrow of a margin, you don’t want the Betsy DeVos problem of being confirmed by one vote,” he said. “You really want these people to have a mandate from the Senate.”