The Biden/Harris Administration's Cabinet: Who Do You Want in Which Role and Why?

[China]

Statement from President Biden on the Confirmation of Admiral Linda L. Fagan as USCG Commandant

 

It is with deep pride that I congratulate Admiral Linda L. Fagan on her confirmation by the Senate as Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard. Admiral Fagan is the Coast Guard’s first woman to hold the rank of four-star admiral. Today, she again makes history not only as the first woman to lead the Coast Guard—but also as the first woman Service Chief of any U.S. military service. Admiral Fagan’s leadership, experience, and integrity are second to none, and I know she will advance the Coast Guard’s mission to ensure our nation’s maritime safety and security. 

 

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[China]

Time to clear out some of the trash as the USSS:

 

Biden appoints Kimberly Cheatle to lead the Secret Service

 

President Joe Biden announced on Wednesday that he's appointing Kimberly Cheatle to be the next director of the United States Secret Service, a selection that comes at what administration officials acknowledge is a critical time for the federal law enforcement agency.

 

Cheatle worked for the Secret Service for more than 25 years in numerous roles, including as part of the Vice Presidential Protective Division during Biden's time as vice president. She left the agency as the assistant director of the Office of Protective Operations and is currently a senior director at PepsiCo North America.

Cheatle, who will succeed James Murray in the director role, is the second woman to ever be appointed to lead the agency.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas commended Cheatle's appointment.

Cheatle's appointment comes after Murray announced in July that he would delay his planned retirement from the service as the agency faced inquiries from Congress and elsewhere over its deletion of text messages around January 6, 2021.

CNN previously reported that the US Secret Service erased text messages from January 5 and 6, 2021 -- the day before and the day of the insurrection in Washington. The text messages at issue may have been deleted when the agency conducted a data migration of phones that began January 27, 2021.

Personal cell phone numbers of US Secret Service agents have been provided to oversight bodies looking into the insurrection.

Multiple oversight bodies, including the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General, the National Archives and the House January 6 committee, are either investigating or requesting more information about the USSS text messages. It's not immediately clear whether these personal cell phone numbers from agents are related to those inquiries.

 

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[China]

Susan Rice to step down as Biden’s domestic policy chief

 

President Joe Biden’s domestic policy adviser, Susan Rice, is stepping down from her post next month, multiple current and former senior administration officials told NBC News.

 

The move brings to a close Rice’s prolific, wide-ranging and at times controversial tenure overseeing Biden’s domestic agenda — including some of the thorniest political issues, such as immigration policy. During her more than two years in the role, Biden has signed executive and legislative actions on health care, gun safety, student loans, policing and other key priorities for Democrats.

 

Rice’s last day in the White House will be May 26, according to a senior administration official.

 

White House chief of staff Jeff Zients said Rice, who served as national security adviser during the Obama administration, has been critical to driving Biden’s agenda and has taken the Domestic Policy Council “to new heights.”

 

“It is extraordinary when you think about what she’s done in terms of public service across her career, capped off by being the first person ever to be the national security adviser and domestic policy adviser,” said Zients, who has known Rice since high school. “It really speaks a lot to her leadership and her range.”

 

The process for Biden to select Rice’s successor will include candidates both inside and outside the White House, a second senior administration official said.

 

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[China]

Why Business Lobbyists Want to Stop Labor Secretary Nominee Julie Su

 

Business groups are vigorously opposing Julie Su, President Joe Biden’s nominee for labor secretary, and they are counting on a handful of votes from swing senators to defeat her confirmation.

 

Leading the charge are trade groups representing companies like McDonald’s and Uber that currently are not the employers of record for workers in fast-food franchises or drivers who are treated as independent contractors. Because of that arm’s length relationship, those corporations are often shielded from responsibility for labor law violations. They fear Su would more aggressively enforce labor laws that could expose them to penalties for infractions.

 

Those fears stem from Su’s record. She rose to prominence in the 1990s for representing Thai seamstresses who were enslaved in a sweatshop in El Monte, California. She brought a suit on their behalf that held retailers and manufacturers liable for using slave labor that resulted in $4 million in restitution for the garment workers.

 

She served as the state’s top labor-law enforcer under Gov. Jerry Brown, launching a “Wage Theft Is a Crime” campaign and aggressively pursuing claims on behalf of restaurant, car wash, and garment workers. As California’s labor secretary under Gov. Gavin Newsom, she steered the department’s expanded unemployment system for those thrown out of work by the pandemic. Her opponents are also attacking her for the fraud that emerged in that program, although such fraud was common nationwide. Now serving as acting secretary of labor, she has the support of organized labor, some business leaders and the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce. 

 

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[China]

Biden names former Obama-era lawyer as White House counsel

 

U.S. President Joe Biden named former federal prosecutor and Chicago lawyer Ed Siskel as his top White House lawyer on Tuesday, saying the former White House deputy counsel would start his new post next month.

 

Siskel served in the White House Counsel's office for nearly four years when Biden was vice president under former President Barack Obama, including as deputy counsel, the White House said in a statement.

 

"For nearly four years in the White House when I was vice president, he helped the Counsel’s Office navigate complex challenges and advance the president’s agenda on behalf of the American people," Biden wrote. "His experience will let him hit the ground running as a key leader on my team."

 

The appointment comes as Biden seeks to advance his legislative agenda and faces ongoing Republican-led congressional investigations.

 

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[China]

Biden will nominate a former Obama official to run the Federal Aviation Administration

 

President Joe Biden will nominate a former Obama administration official to lead the Federal Aviation Administration after his first choice withdrew in the face of Republican opposition nearly six months ago.

 

The White House said Thursday that Biden will nominate Michael G. Whitaker, a former deputy administrator at the FAA, and currently the chief operating officer of a Hyundai affiliate working to develop an air taxi aircraft.

 

The FAA, which regulates airline safety and manages the nation’s airspace, has been run by back-to-back acting administrators since March 2022.

 

The FAA faces a number of challenges including a shortage of air traffic controllers, aging technology, and alarm over close calls between planes at major airports. In addition, Congress is deliberating over legislation that will direct the agency’s operations for the next five years.

 

Whitaker worked as a lawyer for TWA, which was absorbed by American Airlines, spent 15 years at United Airlines where he became a senior vice president and oversaw international and regulatory affairs, then moved to InterGlobe, a travel company in India.

 

Whitaker was deputy FAA administrator – a job that does not require Senate approval – from 2013 to 2016. He is currently the chief commercial officer for Supernal, a Hyundai subsidiary that is working on an electric-powered air taxi — which would need FAA certification to fly in the United States.

 

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[China]

Blinken kicks off State Deparment music diplomacy initiative with his own performance

 

Antony Blinken is singing the blues in a push for musical diplomacy.

 

The secretary of State performed the Muddy Waters 1954 classic “Hoochie Coochie Man,” at a Wednesday event at the State Department to kick off its global music diplomacy initiative.

 

 

The effort aims to “elevate music as a diplomatic tool to promote peace and democracy and support the United States’ broader foreign policy goals,” according to the State Department.

 

Blinken, sporting a suit and tie, said he “couldn’t pass up” an “opportunity to combine music and diplomacy,” sharing a video of his croon-filled performance on X, formerly known as Twitter.

 

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