This comment isn’t limited to Biden’s cabinet picks, but man, I hope we can get some younger blood in the upper ranks of DC leadership soon:
16 Likes
15 Likes
that’s some special f-ery right there:
At any other point [Biden] would have been able to call into the State Department operations center to place a call to a foreign leader. Former presidents and vice presidents are allowed to use the resource whenever they wish. But now, as he is President-elect, Biden is being prevented from using that facility by the Trump administration.
12 Likes
I wonder if Biden likes that dish that’s best served cold.
7 Likes
From the linked CNN article on Biden’s team being prevented from using State Department resources:
Operating without State Department support right now, the Biden team – made up of many experienced former government officials – has sent out readouts of all of the calls, which help with record keeping. They are making an effort to formalize the process and will use State Department resources when they are available, said a source familiar with the unfolding situation.
This is a stark contrast with the transition between the Obama and Trump administrations. At the time, President-elect Trump opted not to use State Department resources. Instead, he made his calls out of Trump Tower and resisted using the government support and coordination system, which meant that translators and staff sat waiting without any work while Trump made calls on his own, a State Department official told CNN at the time.
Damn, isn’t it nice to see professionals at work again? People who follow the law and think of future record keeping even in an unprecedented situation where they don’t have to because they are forced to do everything outside the system?
17 Likes
5 Likes
President-elect Joe Biden is expected to name a number of senior White House staff as soon as this week, a group that will likely include Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-La., a key surrogate and his campaign’s first national co-chair.
Richmond, 47, is expected to be named to a senior advisory role in the White House, a position that could mirror his work in the inner circle of Biden’s campaign and transition team, which he also co-chairs. Richmond’s exact title and job description are not yet finalized, sources said. He’s scheduled to hold a press conference about his plans in New Orleans on Tuesday morning.
Other staffers expected to take on senior White House roles are campaign senior adviser Symone Sanders and deputy campaign manager and communications director Kate Bedingfield, sources familiar with the internal personnel discussions said.
——-
His campaign head Jen O’Malley Dillon has reportedly been named Deputy Chief of Staff.
8 Likes
7 Likes
9 Likes
Guess he really meant it when he said, “I will not ban fracking!”
5 Likes
I maintain that he did mean it, he will not ban it, but he will not stop it from dying a natural death as renewables undercut the price of fracked natural gas. All we really need to do is stop subsidizing it, or even just cut back the subsidy, and it will go the way of the urban farrier and the elevator attendant.
10 Likes
From the article, I’m not sure if Cedric Richardson is the man to help make that happen.
8 Likes
No, but it would (I think?) require legislation to increase the current subsidies and tax breaks, some of which may sunset, and I hope to not see the Biden admin vigorously backing any such thing. Speculation, we shall see what happens as it comes and pressure where necessary. Not gonna get my panties in a bunch over it yet.
7 Likes
8 Likes
Riding the tiger, which in turn is riding a bigger tiger…
8 Likes
“Unions are going to have increased power.”
–Lyin Joe
8 Likes
Safe seat & makes sense.
9 Likes
Vermont has a Republican governor. Not sure I would go that way.
8 Likes
Yeah I don’t know what the original version of the article said but they’ve since clarified it to say that Republican Governor Phil Scott would be appointing Sanders’ replacement:
Clarification: In the case of a vacant seat in Vermont’s congressional delegation, Vermont Gov. Phil Scott would appoint a temporary replacement and then is required to call a special election. A previous version of the article misstated the process in Vermont.
It would be nice to have Sanders as labor secretary but it’s hard to see how having him in that position would be worth giving up any hope in the Senate.
15 Likes
