President-elect Joe Biden’s incoming White House chief of staff Ron Klain and transition team senior adviser Jen Psaki on Sunday alerted the public to keep its eyes peeled for an announcement this week from Biden on his cabinet picks amid President Trump’s refusal to concede, which has held up the President-elect’s formal transition process.
Last week, a Biden transition official confirmed to TPM that the President-elect has a new “confirmations team” dedicated to the Cabinet appointment process. Biden staffers plan to break from tradition by publicly announcing the President-elect’s nominees before officially putting them before the Senate.
Biden also told reporters on Thursday that he’s chosen who will lead the Treasury Department. The Associated Press reported that Biden’s Treasury pick, and his nominee for secretary of state, may be announced before Thanksgiving.
Additionally, the President-elect tapped several alumni of his presidential campaign last week to take on senior positions as soon as he enters the White House in January.
On Sunday, Klain and Psaki signaled that we’re just days away from knowing who will be part of Biden’s cabinet upon his return to the White House in January:
Incoming White House chief of staff Ron Klain
When asked during an interview on ABC News whether we can expect an attorney general, State Department or Treasury pick from Biden this week, Klain confirmed that the President-elect will announce cabinet appointments on Tuesday.
“Meeting the pace — beating, in fact — the pace that was set by the Obama/Biden transition, beating the pace set by the Trump transition,” Klain said. “So you’re going to see the first cabinet picks this Tuesday.”
Klain, however, was tight-lipped on details.
“But if you want to know what cabinet agencies they are, who’s going to be in those cabinet agencies, you’ll have to wait for the President-Elect to say that himself on Tuesday,” Klain said.
JUST IN: “You’re going to see the first of the president-elect’s cabinet appointments on Tuesday of this week,” Biden’s chief of staff Ron Klain tells @GStephanopoulos, adding that specifics will be shared by Biden himself on Tuesday. https://t.co/2CRbN7I9hM pic.twitter.com/gqfQLkQajy
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) November 22, 2020
Jen Psaki, Biden transition team senior adviser
During an interview on CNN, Psaki was asked whether Biden’s cabinet will have more progressive Democrats compared to the original Obama cabinet.
Psaki, who served as the White House communications director in the Obama administration, first pointed out that Biden and VP-elect Kamala Harris were elected “by a coalition of people across the country,” which include progressive and moderate Democrats as well as Republicans.
“And their cabinet and the team will look like America so that means diversity of idealology and becomes and wants a range of views of people at the table,” Psaki said.
Psaki then said that Biden will announce some cabinet picks this week.
“I would encourage people to wait who he sees and announces and nominates in the weeks to come,” Psaki said. “Of course, there will be some this week and more in the weeks following, but he want to have a diversity of people at the table because he fully understands that is how he is going to move an agenda forward.”
When asked whether she can confirm the first cabinet announcement will come Tuesday, Psaki reiterated that it will come this week.
“You know, Thanksgiving is on Thursday and I can assure you that President-Elect Biden will be with his family on that day as we all will be,” Psaki said. “It will come this week. I think more in the weeks to come.”
Jen Psaki, senior adviser on the Biden transition team confirms Joe Biden will announce his first Cabinet picks this week saying the President-elect "wants to have a diversity of voices at the table because he fully understands that's how he's going to move an agenda forward" pic.twitter.com/rrTXTZkTZv
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) November 22, 2020
Let the internal Democratic knife fights begin!
Not that I trust any of these assholes, but:
I foresee a day in the not too distant future (next couple of weeks, maybe) when Trump is unable to get any attention at all regardless of how crazy his antics are. That will be something to look forward to indeed.
May I assume this is a clap back at McConnell?
I don’t think this is a shot at Trump because Biden’s people aren’t the type, but one can be forgiven for thinking so.