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“For months, the transition has focused on identifying positions critical for the immediate and successful execution of the Biden-Harris program, analyzing each federal agency from scratch,” said Andrew Bates, a senior word of the transition, in a press release. “We are working with both sides in Congress to confirm qualified and experienced nominees, while hiring senior agency officials to be ready on day one to weather the pandemic and recession while safeguarding US national security.”
Two polls in Georgia will determine who controls the Senate, although those results won’t be known until January 5 or after. Biden’s team appear to be planning ahead as if the Republicans would win and keep the chamber.
The heightened sense of urgency follows a period of weeks in which the Trump administration refused to recognize Biden’s victory, a process known as “verification.” Foreign policy experts were alarmed at the delay, warning that it could have dangerous consequences.
Biden’s team aims to immediately replace “every person appointed to Trump’s policy,” with a special focus on national security positions, a former U.S. official involved in the transition said. “They have people identified throughout the [deputy assistant secretary] level.”
Biden has promised to hire a diverse group of people, and that commitment will extend to the middle and lower ranks, said one of those familiar with the situation. The person added that Biden and his associates are keenly aware that many career officials – who have been accused by the Trump administration of being members of an unfair “deep state” – are eager to be considered for promotions. and assess those desires as well. .
Even within the transition team, many of the hiring decisions are handled confidentially, with only a few people involved. A “staffing unit” was set up to review applicants, and one person familiar with the situation described it as a “black box”. This is in part by design because of the sensitivities that surround any hiring process. One person familiar with the situation noted, however, that it also alleviates the embarrassment given that so many people who volunteer or are part of the transition team compete for jobs.
Lisa Monaco and Suzy George, both veterans of the Barack Obama administration’s national security teams, play key roles in overseeing personnel decisions, according to a person involved in the transition. Yohannes Abraham is also heavily involved with staff in addition to Gautam Raghavan and Stephanie Valencia, according to another person involved in the transition.
Biden has yet to select candidates for the post of CIA director and secretary of defense, despite the deployment of other senior members of his national security team. The main candidate for the post of the Pentagon, Michèle Flournoy, was previously under-secretary for policy there.
In an interview published earlier this year with the Transition Lab podcast, Flournoy said hiring subordinates was a top priority when she arrived at the Pentagon in the early months of the Obama administration, and that she had the chance to be confirmed early because she had the “litter pick up” in the constitution of her team.
“Every free moment – and at night – I looked at resumes and tried to make decisions,” she says. “The simplest thing was to hire the assistant and lower assistant secretaries, as they did not need confirmation from the Senate. … So you have your kind of subordinate staff in the first place. And then, six months, 12 months [later], as assistant secretaries begin to enter the confirmation process, you have to figure out how to make room for them and really take advantage of their talents.
If Republicans retain a majority in the Senate after the second round of elections in Georgia, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will play an outsized role in the confirmation process.
GOP leaders have previously indicated that they intend to stick to traditional protocol with presidential candidates, although some choices such as Neera Tanden, Biden’s choice to lead the Office of Management and Budget and whom Republicans see as being outside the “mainstream”, would face an uphill battle.
“I’m not disqualifying anyone, but I think it obviously becomes much more difficult if they send people from their progressive left who are a bit out of the mainstream,” said Senate Majority Whip John Thune (RS .D.).
“I hope they can consult with us so that if they send someone here, it’s someone we can confirm,” Thune added.
Some of Biden’s candidates are already receiving a positive reception from Republican senators.
For example, Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said he had “philosophical” differences with Biden’s choice for Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, but said he had “no problem” with her and saw no reason to oppose her appointment.
“My attitude is that, in the absence of conflicts of interest or others – lack of temperament and ultra-partisan – beyond these, that [Biden] should get the people he wants to serve him, ”Cornyn said. “Obviously we’re going to have differences of opinion on the policy, and that’s great.
While cabinet candidates can get relatively quick hearings, the Senate will likely take its time with many other positions that require confirmation. A lot of it just comes down to the logistics, like the ability to schedule hearings.
The coronavirus pandemic could add delays to the process. The same is true for Georgia’s second round if the results are close and take days or weeks to certify, leaving open the question of who controls the Senate.
Lara Seligman contributed.
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