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President-elect Joe Biden faces significant pressure from competing elements in the Democratic Party to fill the remaining Cabinet and other high-level government positions with minority candidates. The pressure is particularly focused on three still vacant Cabinet posts to head the departments of Defense, Health and Human Services and Justice.
Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo and former U.S. surgeon general Vivek Murthy are the main candidates for HHS leadership, several people familiar with the ongoing deliberations told CBS News.
Raimondo is the former president of the Democratic Governors Association, and she was among those under consideration for the post of Secretary of the Treasury. But she faced stiff opposition from progressives who have argued with her in the past over a controversial overhaul of state pensions when she was state treasurer. Murthy has spent much of this year advising Mr Biden directly on issues related to the pandemic and has participated in briefings that took place at least three times a week during the presidential campaign.
Latino leaders are particularly sensitive to who might lead HHS, given that Latinos have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19 and experience higher infection rates than most demographics. They lobbied for New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, a former congresswoman who once served as New Mexico’s health secretary.
Lujan Grisham was first approached to serve as Home Secretary, but declined the role, people familiar with outreach told CBS News. A person familiar with the governor’s thinking said advisers and friends advised her not to leave her current perch as the country’s only Latino governor to take on a role in which she has no natural interest or professional experience. .
This person said the governor was also sensitive to the upheaval of Native Americans in his state given that Democratic Representative Deb Haaland, also from New Mexico, is touted for the role and would be the first Native American to head a department that includes the Office. of Indian Affairs.
Spokesmen for Raimondo and Lujan Grisham did not respond to requests for comment on Wednesday evening.
Choosing Mr Biden for the post of health secretary and attorney general is expected to be among the topics of conversation at a virtual meeting scheduled for Thursday between the Congressional Hispanic caucus and senior members of the Biden transition team -Harris, including new White House chief of staff Ronald Klain, according to several people familiar with the meeting plans.
A spokesperson for the transition confirmed the meeting was taking place and was scheduled several days ago.
Thirty-two caucus members on Wednesday called on Mr. Biden to appoint California attorney general Xavier Becerra or outgoing Democratic National Committee chairman Tom Perez as attorney general.
“Each would serve your administration with courage, integrity and professionalism, and would represent a historic appointment,” they wrote in a letter led by Democratic Representative Filemon Vela, one of the early supporters of Mr. Biden’s presidential candidacy.
Lawmakers noted that Becerra, who served for more than 20 years in Congress, currently heads the country’s largest state-level justice department and “has won dozens of victories against the Justice Department of Trump and helped stop the decline in important healthcare, immigration, labor protection, the environment, consumer rights and civil rights. ”
Perez’s previous work as secretary of labor and as head of the Department of Justice’s civil rights division means he has already been reviewed and confirmed by the US Senate twice before, “and would build on on his experience with the DOJ to restore the integrity, independence and morale of the department, “the letter said.
The letter does not note, however, that Perez has led the Democratic Party since 2017, a role that would likely disqualify him along with Senate Republicans, who could retain control of the chamber after the two Senate votes in Georgia on January 5. Becerra has been a primary legal antagonist of President Trump, filing dozens of lawsuits challenging aspects of his administration’s policy ranging from immigration to the environment.
CBS News has previously reported that several people are being considered for the post of attorney general, including former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates; former Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, who also headed the Civil Rights Division; and outgoing Alabama Senator Doug Jones.
At the Pentagon, CBS News previously reported that Mr. Biden was considering three prominent contenders: Michele Flournoy, a former Deputy Defense Secretary responsible for policy; Lloyd Austin, a former four-star army general; and Jeh Johnson, the former Homeland Security Secretary who was also the Department of Defense’s senior lawyer.
The Biden team remains suspicious of appointing sitting Democratic members of Congress for any administrative role given the narrow majorities in the House and Senate. Rep. Cedric Richmond, a Democrat from Louisiana who previously chaired the Congressional Black Caucus and was an early Biden supporter, is already resigning to head the White House’s Office of Public Engagement. If Haaland goes there too, House Democrats would have an even slimmer majority over Republicans.
Meanwhile, leaders of major civil rights organizations are also expected to meet with Biden-Harris transition assistants soon to ensure more black candidates are considered for senior positions. Transition officials say plans are underway to schedule a meeting but no date has been set.
In addition to hiring Richmond for a senior position in the West Wing, the Biden-Harris team brought in Tina Flournoy to serve as Harris’ chief of staff, according to two people familiar with the decision. She previously served as former President Bill Clinton’s chief of staff and is expected to be one of at least three African-American women in leadership positions on Harris’ team. The others are Symone Sanders, a senior Biden campaign adviser, who is set to become Harris’ main spokesperson, and Ashley Etienne, who is set to become chief communications officer. Etienne held a similar role for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Mr Biden has previously appointed Wally Adeyemo as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, the first African-American in that role. He also appointed Cecilia Rouse, labor economist, to chair the Council of Economic Advisers. She would be the first black woman to head the White House economic office.
Asked about the willingness of civil rights groups to meet with the transition office, a spokesperson said this week that Mr Biden continues to make history with choices already announced and that his success in building a diverse team “will be clear when our full slate of appointees and candidates is complete.”
Derrick Johnson, president and CEO of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said on Wednesday that civil rights groups were particularly keen to speak with key Biden aides in part because the Biden-Harris’ transition office had failed to recruit national civil rights representatives. organizations to sit on the dozens of agency review teams that conduct federal government audits during the transition.
“We’re concerned that if we don’t push now to make sure it’s a priority, we may need to react to the wrong things rather than help build something that can be positive, forward-thinking. and inclusive, ”Johnson said.
A transition official clarified on Wednesday evening that the agency’s review teams and parts of the growing transition office included current and former employees of civil rights organizations.
Marc Morial, president of the National Urban League, said organizations like his are facing pressure from members across the country who “are closely monitoring the deployment of these positions.”
In a meeting this week with members of the Kansas City chapter of the Urban League, Morial said a participant expressed “disappointment at what he had seen before” to him as Mr. Biden had not appointed a black man or woman to head the Department of Homeland Security, State or Treasury.
Morial, who is also the former mayor of New Orleans, dismissed concerns that there were no qualified candidates for high-level government positions – or that some minorities could be selected to tick off the proverbial box.
“There is abundant talent for every Cabinet position that is currently on the board. And just for anyone who suggests we can’t find anyone I want to mouth wash with Tabasco,” Morial said.
Rebecca Kaplan and Tim Perry contributed to this report.
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