There ARE a LOT of jobs that the Biden admin will have to fill….
It is still early in the Biden transition. There are thousands of jobs to fill. But a similar sense of dread is starting to bubble up from veterans of the Biden campaign, particularly those who were there with the president-elect from the Philadelphia announcement speech to the Wilmington victory speech. The target of their ire? The Obama establishment, which has eclipsed the Clinton name as shorthand for yesterday’s Democratic Party.
“The Obama staffers are now cutting out the people who got Biden elected,” said a senior Biden official channeling the feelings of the old guard of the Biden campaign, who requested anonymity for the obvious reason. “None of these people found the courage to help the VP when he was running and now they are elevating their friends over the Biden people. It’s f—– up.”
Another Biden adviser who worked on the campaign echoed the point. “It is a very valid criticism,” the adviser said. “A lot of people are living in uncertainty.”
There are some caveats, both about the 2008 transition battle between the campaign and the transition and the 2020 sequel. Back then Obama was a member of the U.S. Senate, where he didn’t have a large staff on which to rely upon for government positions. He was also taking over the presidency in the middle of a raging economic crisis. It shouldn’t have been surprising that he would draw from a pool of talent that dominated the administration of the last Democratic president….
Note…
More picks coming later in this day as I do this post….
…Clyburn (D-S.C.), the House majority whip is looking for some people HE wants to get jobs in the Biden admin….
…The most senior Black lawmaker on Capitol Hill is taking Joe Biden to task over administration appointments, saying the president-elect is falling short when it comes to naming Black figures to top positions.
Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.), the House majority whip and a close Biden ally, expressed disappointment on Wednesday that African Americans — a voting bloc crucial to Biden’s presidential victory — have not featured more prominently among the early picks to fill out senior administration posts next year.
In an interview with Juan Williams, Clyburn welcomed Biden’s selection of Linda Thomas-Greenfield, a Black veteran of the diplomatic corps, to serve as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. But he lamented that she is so far alone among Black women tapped for cabinet seats and other top slots….
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Clyburn floated several other names as potential picks for attorney general, including Sen. Doug Jones (D-Ala.), who lost his reelection bid this month, and former deputy attorney general Sally Yates, who served as acting attorney general for 10 days in 2017 before Trump fired her….
More…
Raimondo Is Leading Contender for Commerce Secretary
Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo (D) has emerged as a leading candidate to be President-elect Joe Biden’s commerce secretary, Axios reports.