Report: Biden Camp Vetting GOPers As Potential Cabinet Appointees

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden delivers remarks about health care at Beech Woods Recreation Center on October 16, 2020 in Southfield, Michigan. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
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Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden is reportedly screening a number of Republicans as potential candidates for his Cabinet if he were to beat President Donald Trump in November.

According to Politico, the Biden campaign has been eyeing the Republicans who spoke at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) this year, including former Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) and Quibi CEO Meg Whitman, who ran for governor in California in 2010.

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker (R), who announced last week that he would not be voting for Trump, is also reportedly under consideration, along with former Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) and former Rep. Charlie Dent (R-PA).

The Biden campaign declined to comment to TPM on the record.

Floating Republicans as potential Cabinet members could simply be part of the Biden campaign’s effort to reach across the aisle and bolster its message of unity amid a bitterly divided country.

Politico noted that past presidents, such as Barack Obama and George W. Bush, had installed members of the opposite party in their Cabinets, though they were appointed to lead the Transportation and Defense Departments, positions that are arguably less guided by personal political leanings than other Cabinet roles.

Throughout his campaign, Biden has painted himself as a bridge to compromise with Republicans and frequently emphasizes his belief that there are “so many things we agree on.” Additionally, the former vice president appointed Cindy McCain, the widow of Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), as a member of his transition team.

However, progressives have criticized the Democrat’s overtures to the GOP, warning that doing so risks alienating the Democratic base and would likely prove to be a futile strategy anyway given Republicans’ notorious refusal to compromise during the Obama years.

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Notable Replies

  1. There is system and there are people.

    If Biden has GOPers in spots in which, say, some type of Moscow McConnell-type power cannot be used to submarine progress, then I don’t have a problem with it.

    The system we are going to need to set this country right will dictate the overtures, the positions and the people

    OT Cat knows he is going to win

  2. Democrats need to focus their displeasure (how diplomatic) towards the CURRENT occupier of the WH and his Trump sucking minions. We have had a LOT of help this time from the Lincoln Group and other like-minded people. We disagree with many of each others point-of-view but have recognized a need to work together. This is the latest shiny object to deflect.

  3. I can live with Biden rendering Kasich or Baker unelectable in Republican primaries for Senate in their respective states.

    Or, Maybe he could pluck a Republican senator from a state w/ a Democratic governor and pad his senate majority.

    …and no major Cabinet positions. HUD, Transportation, that’s about it.

  4. A little political diversity posturing goes a long way when setting up an administration.

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