Pete may get China post.
Interesting. If he gets it I bet he’ll be fluently speaking Chinese in no time, if he can’t already.
While I am a Mayor Pete fan, he has virtually no relevant experience for what is an important and sensitive position. I think something like HUD would have been more appropriate for him. And I checked and no he doesn’t know Chinese, and given the difficulty of the language, even he will not be able to pick it up to any meaningful degree.
Would make sense for him to get ambassador to a place that is friendly to the US such as Euro country, Japan, Australia, etc.
He was mayor of a town of college town of 100,000 - no way would he be good for HUD. Maybe Veterans’ Affairs.
His issue was always going to be his lack of experience. Of course ‘being considered’ for the Ambassador to China doesn’t mean he’s going to get it.
The last four years are a perfect example of why we need people with experience.
He’s a Rhodes scholar, a Navy intelligence officer, and a REMF in Afghanistan.
I doubt that many of our ambassadors to China have spoken the language to any meaningful degree – certainly doesn’t seem like something that would have been in Max Baucus’ wheelhouse. Almost all of them for the last couple decades have been politicians with no foreign service background.
I am guessing most of those ambassadors had more relevant political experience than Pete. Anyway I wouldn’t necessarily assume that they were all good picks either. Ultimately the US-China relationship is way too important and difficult to be left to amateurs. And I think knowledge of the local language is an obvious advantage in a such a large and complex country. The best picks would be career diplomats who are fluent in Chinese and have spend a decade or two understanding the country and the region. If you do pick a politician, pick someone like Huntsman who spoke the language, had been ambassador to Singapore and had extensive experience with global trade issues.
It’s amazing how people who can’t seem to read what I post think I want a guy with no experience. Never said that.
This article from Slate sums up the curious way Biden’s going about his Cabinet and senior staffer picks – outside of the national security posts, he seems to be identifying competent, experienced individuals he wants on this team, and then sticking them at random in positions only marginally relevant to their issue background. Xavier Becerra at DHS, Martha Fudge at HUD, Denis McDonough at VA, Susan Rice at the Domestic Policy Council. All smart, competent people with decades of experience in how Washington works. But none of them with much experience on the specific portfolio they’ll be handling.
I don’t think this is a huge problem - they’ll all be fully staffed and advised by experts, and they’re all more than capable of quickly coming up to speed on the important issues facing their departments. But it is odd.
It’s possible it could be an insider-outsider cabinet. People Who are very competent and experienced in government, and putting them in areas where they haven’t been embedded. So looking at Agencies with with new eyes but also having the know how for how to accomplish things in them.
It is a little odd, but it might actually be a change for the better (certainly better than the Trump Administration; maybe even the Obama Administration).
I apologize if this has already been asked in this thread (I love these kinds of discussions) but has there been any suggestions that Biden should add a Republican somewhere in his White House. I know it’s probably silly and would likely be seen as pointless appeasement to his enemies. Or would it? Is there anyone he could bring in as an “ambassador” to the Republicans? After all, they’re part of America too. Perhaps Flake or Denver Riggleman (who I only recently learned about but who seems a decent sort).
It’s pretty common for an Administration to have a couple Cabinet Secretaries or Ambassadors from the other party. Obama appointed Chuck Hagel Secretary of Defense and John Huntsman Ambassador to China, W. appointed Norm Maneta Secretary of Transportation, etc. Usually for positions in which there aren’t (or at least weren’t) significant differences between the parties and appointees who are middle-of-the road politicians.
It would be pointless, though, to bring in Flake or Riggleman as “ambassadors” to Republicans. Both have been cast out by their tribe.
For several decades now it has been customary for a President to name at least one member of the opposition party to his Cabinet, although Trump did not: List of United States political appointments across party lines - Wikipedia
As far as I can determine, all of Biden’s announced appointees so far are Democrats.
I’m honestly not sure there are any Republicans who would accept the offer; it seems like it would be political suicide.
Which is in itself really sad.
Article today in the Washington Post about frustration among liberals and younger activists that Biden is filling his Cabinet with Obama-era old hands whom he’s known for decades, rather than young progressives.
To which I can only say – this is what you bought. The whole rationale of Biden’s candidacy in the primaries was to sell the American people a vision of a return to sanity and steady, experienced leadership in the wake of Trump’s tumultuous four years. Democratic primary voters turned away from Warren and Sanders, calculating that Biden’s vision had the better chance against Trump. And it worked.
I do hope and expect that Biden will make plenty of room for younger progressive voices in his administration, probably in the next tier of appointments below the Cabinet (e.g. the Deputy and Assistant Secretary positions), if only because the average age of his appointees so far is 63 and he needs to be building talent for the future.
Welp, the transition team finally got ahold of me and they were only interested in some free consulting about operational efficiency, and not my opinions about filling DOE S1.
Has anyone seen any news on this? I have not. But I also had a busy week and wasn’t paying much attention to anything.