Biden, who was declared the next president of the United States by the American media on Saturday after several days of counting ballots, has already started a series of changes awaiting the White House. He appointed his longtime adviser and collaborator Ronald Klain as its chief of staff.
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Fifty-nine-year-old Klain is no newcomer to this area – he previously served as head of Biden’s vice president’s office. And he held the same position for Vice President Al Gore in the 1990s.
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According to the British newspaper The Guardian, Klain will now head to the White House as an outspoken critic of the coronavirus policy of current President Donald Trump and at the same time an expert in dealing with health crises. In 2014, it was he who coordinated the US response to the Ebola virus in West Africa. Klain is nicknamed the “Ebola Tsar” for solving the situation.
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“Ron has been priceless to me over the years of working together, for example when we saved the US economy from one of the biggest downturns in history in 2009 or when we overcame a depressing public health crisis in 2014,” said Democrat Biden, announcing his decision.
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He also praised Klain’s “diverse and profound experiences.” “You and his ability to work with people across the political spectrum are exactly what I need from a White House chief of staff as we face a crisis and reconnect our country,” the next US president added.
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Klain responded by saying that “working for a newly elected president is a life honor for him.” He has been cooperating with Biden for many years – he first became involved in Biden’s first presidential campaign in 1987, he also took part in it twelve years ago.
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Ron Klain in 2014 with Joe Biden, then Vice President of the United States.
In addition, he cooperated with the Democratic Party at the senate level. And for presidential candidate Gora, he led a team of lawyers in the post-election recount in 2000. The fight, which included Gore for Democrats and George W. Bush Jr. for Republicans, eventually ended up in the Supreme Court. He called President Bush.
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According to The Washington Post, Klain’s former economic adviser Jared Bernstein also praised Klain’s appointment. “Washington, DC is a city full of smart people, high school classmates. But Ron has something extra in him, he can quickly process complex, conflicting information flows and focus on finding the optimal solution, “said Bernstein.
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The position of White House chief of staff requires such skills – traditionally the most important unelected position in the US government. At the moment, she is held by Mark Meadows, appointed by Donald Trump. And the fourth man in a position for Trump’s four-year presidency. Klain’s appointment to the post marked The Washington Post as the end of the era of Trump’s chaotic presidency.
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Democrat Biden is open to bipartism
There is talk of filling other positions of the US government. Bill Clinton had Republican William Cohen, George W. Bush Democrat Norman Minet, and Barack Obama invited Republicans Ray LaHood and Chuck Hagel. The newly elected American president for the Democratic Party, who has called for an end to this “grim era of demonization in America,” is now also signaling the crossing of the imaginary frontier and the appointment of Republicans to the cabinet and other key positions.
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Taking such a step would be a return to bipartism, tradition and normalcy, which, according to the Politico server, was missing in the Trump administration. Donald Trump, who still did not acknowledge his defeat in the last presidential election, did not name any of the Democrats into his government.
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For a transitional period, Biden’s team has been examining potential candidates for months and will introduce them to the newly elected president himself in the coming days. Biden is expected to focus first on jobs related to public health and the economy, including finance, health and social services ministers. However, according to an official close to Biden’s team, it is unlikely that he will announce the nomination for the cabinet in the first week.
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Biden will have to accommodate people on several fronts. Democrats expect him to appoint the most diverse cabinet in history, and he is also interested in Wall Street and Silicon Valley, from where big money went to the Democratic candidate’s campaign. Republicans also have their ideas, whose consent Biden will need to nominate candidates if the party retains control of the Senate, which is likely according to the Politico server.
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The new president could go down in history by appointing people with a color other than white or women to head the finance and defense ministries. These are the only two areas where only white men have dominated so far.
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Democrat Michèle Flournoy, a former Under-Secretary of State for Politics at the Pentagon, is currently one of the leading candidates for the Department of Defense. As far as the financial sector is concerned, one of the options discussed is Lael Brainard of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System or Roger Ferguson of the Association of Teachers for Insurance and Annuity, ie the TIAA.
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Which Republicans are eligible for significant positions?
Biden became the first Democrat to win in Arizona since 1996. According to some Democrats, this was also because his support was expressed by two respected Republican politicians there – Cindy McCain and Jeff Flake. Both politicians could thus take up positions in the Biden administration.
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Flake is a fiscal conservative but an advocate of immigration reform. He also maintains good relations with the “second camp” for a long time. McCain was given space by Biden at the Democrat convention in August this year and also appointed her to his council of advisers for the transition period. The businesswoman traveled a lot alongside former Senator John McCain, so she could hold the position of supreme ambassador or another diplomatic position.
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John Kasich, a former governor of the state of Ohio, confronted Trump in the Republican primaries in 2016 and emerged from the battle as one of the sharpest presidential Republican critics in the last four years. Kasich supported Biden in the Democratic National Assembly and has long focused on economic issues. The problem, however, in his case is the recent mention to CNN that it is not about returning to Washington.
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Larry Hogan, governor of Maryland, and Charlie Baker, governor of Massachusetts, have repeatedly spoken out against Trump about the approach to the coronavirus pandemic. The latter called the former president’s approach “incredibly irresponsible,” the former gained popularity thanks to a harsh response to the spread of the disease, which was not fully compatible with Trump’s.
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According to The Hill, Hogan could gain a role in the fight against coronavirus, for example, while Baker could use his experience in healthcare policy and the public and private sectors of the economy. In addition, this policy has shown support for the right to abortion or same-sex marriage.
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Biden was also supported in the campaign by former eBay CEO and Quibi Meg Whitman or former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorin.
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Both could act in economic roles in the new president’s administration. For example, there is a position on the National Economic Council or the position of United States Secretary of Commerce – but this position usually falls to representatives of the president’s political party.
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