President-elect Joe Biden has made his first round of Cabinet announcements and he knows there are hard times ahead when it comes to confirming his nominees through a Senate, especially one that may still be controlled by Republicans.
Reporters asked Biden if he expects Republicans to put up a fight to block his Cabinet nominees who will need the approval of the Senate to be confirmed.
Biden responded, “Are you kidding me?”
Currently, the balance of power for the next Senate based on this month’s elections is 50 Republicans and 48 Democrats. That means Democrats would have to win both of the twin runoff elections for Georgia in January to make it an even Senate.
If that were to happen, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris would vote to break the tie, giving her her party a slight majority in the chamber. But if Democrats were to lose Georgia GOP Senator Mitch McConnell will hang on to the Senate majority leader title.
On Monday morning Biden announced a few key Cabinet appointments, a few of which include Antony Blinken as secretary of state, Alejandro Mayorkas as secretary of homeland security, Avril Haines to make history as the first woman to lead the intelligence community, and John Kerry, former Secretary of State, as presidential climate envoy.
During the Obama administration, Blinken and Mayorkas were confirmed to deputy secretary level cabinet positions despite little support from the GOP.
Reporters also asked Biden why he chose to release names of national security nominees first.
He replied, “Because it’s national security.”
The former vice president made these statements as he was arriving at his temporary transition headquarters in his hometown of Wilmington, Delaware, where he would join Harris for a virtual meeting with the United States Conference of Mayors.
Harris began by telling the mayors, “You all are where the rubber meets the road. You’re on the ground. You walk the streets of America where people recognize you… You are the ones who take the heat on a daily basis.”
Biden wrapped up the meeting by thanking the mayors, telling them, “all of you are on the frontlines from the beginning. As we head into this dark winter… we want you to know we’re here for you.”
