# Let's name a Biden Cabinet **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 8, 2020, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-a-biden-cabinet/925040 "2020-11-08T05:34:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2020, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-a-biden-cabinet/925040/1 "2020-11-08T05:34:19Z")
Just for fun - and to see how close each of us get to the eventual real thing: State - Either Susan Rice or Samantha Power, both important Obama foreign policy appointees Treasury - I’d love to see Elizabeth Warren here, but she’s needed in the Senate (and a GOP governor would replace her if she left). Maybe Tom Steyer, or bring back Jack Lew? Defense - I’m a Michelle Howard fan; high time for an experienced woman to lead the Pentagon: [Michelle Howard - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelle_Howard) Attorney General: Stacey Abrams - a smart cookie, and the President-elect owes her bigtime for Georgia Interior - Steve Bullock Agriculture - Amy Klobuchar (she’s on the Senate Ag Committee) Commerce - Also a possible slot for Tom Steyer Labor - Andrew Yang, maybe? Health and Human Services - Congresswoman Marcia Fudge of Ohio, a smart, scrappy former head of the Congressional Black Caucus Housing and Urban Development - Mayor Pete! Transportation - Julian Castro Energy - Jay Inslee Education - Beto O’Rourke Veterans Affairs - If Mayor Pete doesn’t get HUD, he might be a good fit here Homeland Security - Joe Sestak There are some other, lower posts with Cabinet rank, but these are the biggies. One other thing: William Safire wrote that every Cabinet should contain at least one potential future President. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2020, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-a-biden-cabinet/925040/2 "2020-11-08T05:49:48Z")
I’d like to see Susan Collins and Moscow Mitch in the cabinet (for just long enough for the governors of their states to fill their seats with Democrats). ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2020, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-a-biden-cabinet/925040/3 "2020-11-08T05:54:17Z")
You can’t have Jay Inslee unless you find us a replacement here in Washington first. We’re not done with him yet. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2020, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-a-biden-cabinet/925040/4 "2020-11-08T05:57:45Z")
State - Hillary Defense - Tulsi Gabbard or Gen. Chuck Boyd or Gen. Wesley Clark Attorney General: Stacey Abrams Has to go somewhere, maybe Interior. Housing and Urban Development - Mayor Pete- Yeah, he needs some National experience. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2020, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-a-biden-cabinet/925040/5 "2020-11-08T06:10:49Z")
Howabout Dr. Fauci for HHS secretary? ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2020, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-a-biden-cabinet/925040/6 "2020-11-08T06:16:27Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Education - Beto O’Rourke Is Beto any more qualified than DeVos as education secretary? AFAIK, he’s not an educator, he’s never come near managing a school system at a regional or even local level. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2020, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-a-biden-cabinet/925040/7 "2020-11-08T06:18:08Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Defense - I’m a Michelle Howard fan; high time for an experienced woman to lead the Pentagon: [Michelle Howard - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelle_Howard) How about Michele Flournoy? ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2020, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-a-biden-cabinet/925040/8 "2020-11-08T06:18:41Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Defense - Tulsi Gabbard Never gonna happen, but _GOD_, no! ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2020, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-a-biden-cabinet/925040/9 "2020-11-08T06:19:11Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Housing and Urban Development - Mayor Pete- Yeah, he needs some National experience. How about Veterans’ Affairs? ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2020, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-a-biden-cabinet/925040/10 "2020-11-08T06:28:03Z")
DOJ needs someone with DOJ experience, who understands how that department is meant to work. Give this job to Preet Bharara. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2020, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-a-biden-cabinet/925040/11 "2020-11-08T06:38:43Z")
Could work. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2020, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-a-biden-cabinet/925040/12 "2020-11-08T06:39:31Z")
Another good choice. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2020, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-a-biden-cabinet/925040/13 "2020-11-08T06:44:21Z")
Is the OP asking for our ideal picks for cabinet, or the picks that might end up really happening? Gotta take into account the obstructionism that McConnell is going to throw up. ---
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2020, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-a-biden-cabinet/925040/14 "2020-11-08T07:55:25Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Labor - Andrew Yang, maybe? There was speculation in the summer that Yang would play a role in the Biden administration having to do with technology. It wasn’t more specific about which role having to do with technology. > **[Andrew Yang Discusses a Potential Biden Administration Cabinet Role—And What...](https://news.yahoo.com/andrew-yang-discusses-potential-biden-173843286.html)** > > Andrew Yang indicated he hasn't totally given up on the idea of being part of the next administration > [@](#): > > Pressed on whether he’d previously had conversations about a technology-focused cabinet role under presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden, Yang implied he had. “We’ve had general conversations about the fact that Joe would like me to play a role and be helpful, yes,” he said in a TIME100 Talks interview. “I’m driven to help Joe win. And I think that we’re going to need all hands on deck to help clean up the historic crises that were in the midst of.” ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2020, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-a-biden-cabinet/925040/15 "2020-11-08T09:53:14Z")
I’ve heard AG is a likely spot for Doug Jones from AL. He’s prosecuted the KKK successfully before, after all. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2020, 10:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-a-biden-cabinet/925040/16 "2020-11-08T10:05:22Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Is the OP asking for our ideal picks for cabinet, or the picks that might end up really happening? Gotta take into account the obstructionism that McConnell is going to throw up. If you take that into account, there _aren’t_ any picks that might end up really happening. If he decides to obstruct, which he most likely will, no amount of moderation or experience from the appointee would make the difference between being blocked and confirmed. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2020, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-a-biden-cabinet/925040/17 "2020-11-08T10:29:44Z")
Yang’s been pretty vocal on Twitter about wanting to be Secretary of Labor, particularly because he really wants to drop the hammer on WWE for classifying their wrestlers as “independent contractors” even though they’re signed to exclusive deals, the company owns the rights to their names and social media presence, and their schedules, work hours, and performances are strictly scripted and enforced. ---
**Author:** ![psychobunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/54ee81/32.png) [@psychobunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychobunny)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2020, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-a-biden-cabinet/925040/18 "2020-11-08T13:01:20Z")
Not technically a cabinet member but I would love to see Preet Bharara reinstated as DA for SDNY. It would be so so sweet. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2020, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-a-biden-cabinet/925040/19 "2020-11-08T13:13:28Z")
Yes, either Preet Bharara or Sally Yates ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2020, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-a-biden-cabinet/925040/20 "2020-11-08T13:17:04Z")
Fine, then we’ll have acting secretaries, ignore the confirmation process, and leave them in office indefinitely just as Trump did. Once Biden puts the nominees’ names forward, he’s done his job. I don’t think McConnell will get away with obstruction forever. He’ll get away with it until people notice. Moreover, I’m not convinced that McConnell’s grip on the senate will be iron clad. He might get some defectors. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-name-a-biden-cabinet/925040.md?page=2)