With the introduction of four key nominees to economic and jobs positions, President-elect Joe Biden on Friday finished rounding out his incoming Cabinet. All of them will have to be approved by the Senate, and Biden urged lawmakers to conduct a swift approval process after his inauguration on Jan. 20.
Biden hailed his picks as promises kept, saying they highlight his commitment to historic diversity in the White House.
“This is a Cabinet that looks like America. That taps into the full range of talents we have in our nation. And a historic Cabinet,” Biden said in an address from Wilmington, Delaware. This will be the first Cabinet ever that is evenly composed of women and men. It will be the first Cabinet ever with a majority of people of color.”
The Friday introductions leaves only one remaining top-level position open in Biden’s administration: CIA Director.
Biden only briefly mentioned the Wednesday violence on Capitol Hill during his prepared remarks, sending his condolences to the family of Brian D. Sicknick, a US Capitol Police officer who died during the insurrection.
The president-elect dodged questions about whether he supported Congress’ impeachment efforts against President Donald Trump, saying he remains focused on implementing his own agenda come Jan. 20. When pressed, Biden demurred, saying: “I’d tell [lawmakers] that’s a decision for the Congress to make.”
Biden did, however, call those who violently breached the Capitol “domestic terrorists” and called for their actions to be fully investigated. As for the charges, “that'll be a judgement for the Justice Department to make,” Biden said.
The president-elect instead focused on the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and its devastating impact on the American economy, citing a December jobs report that found US employers terminated 140,000 positions last month — the only month since April shed jobs. Biden pledged to take swift action on reinvigorating the economy when he takes office, also promising to put forth another round of coronavirus relief legislation.
“As we saw in this morning’s jobs report, restaurants, bars, and the hospitality industry
have been slammed by the virus,” Biden said. “We will direct relief to these businesses and others that have been hit hardest. We owe them that support to help them get through the other side of this crisis.”
“From day one, our Administration will work to ensure that small businesses and financial institutions in every community understand the rules for these programs, the resources available to them, and where they can turn for technical assistance if they need it,” he continued.
Here are the new nominees for Joe Biden’s Cabinet and what they had to say:
Should her nomination be approved, Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo would lead the Commerce Department in helping set trade policy and promote U.S. opportunities for growth domestically and overseas.
Raimondo, a former venture capitalist, is in her second term as governor and previously served as state treasurer.
“She has put Rhode Island on a path of achieving 100% renewable energy, and she will be a key player in helping position the United States as the global leader in the 21st Century clean energy economy,” Biden said of Raimondo. “And she knows what her fellow governors, Democrats and Republicans alike, are dealing with on the frontlines of the pandemic and economic crises and how we can all partner together as one nation to contain COVID-19 and build back better.”
Raimondo said her time as Governor was spent building good-paying jobs, empowering entrepreneurs, and creating new opportunities for working families. Calling it a “simple mission, but a vital one,” Raimondo said she would approach the job as secrtary of commerce with the same vigor.
“When I announced my run for Governor, Rhode Island was in the midst of an eight-month streak as the state with the highest unemployment rate in the nation,” She said Friday. “But over the last six years, we grew our way back, achieving a record number of jobs and the lowest unemployment in 30 years.”
“We did it by bringing together our workers and our businesses in common cause. We invested in our people — in their skills, their opportunities, and their dreams. We helped new businesses launch and sparked others to hire and grow responsibly,” Raimondo continued, adding: “That’s the same vision, the same faith in American workers and entrepreneurs that I see in the Build Back Better agenda.”
Biden’s personal relationship with Boston Mayor Marty Walsh dates back decades, with both men heavily involved in labor unions. In mid-November, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka threw his weight behind Walsh’s potential nomination.
The two men share a focus on building the working class and strengthening unions, and Walsh had been a top contender for the position of labor secretary for several weeks — beating out other well-known floated names like Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Rep. Andy Levin of Michigan.
Biden on Friday revealed he gave “serious consideration” to nominating Sanders for the position, saying he was “confident” the senator would have been a champion for working people. It was Sanders himself, Biden said Friday, who opted out of the position given the razor-thin margin in the senate.
“Marty understands like I do that the middle class built this country and unions built the middle class,” Biden said of his pick for labor secretary. “He’s seen how union workers have been holding this country together during this crisis. Health care workers keeping our hospitals safe, clean, and effective. Public service workers fighting against budget shortfalls to keep communities afloat. Port workers, car haulers, warehouse workers, and folks keeping our air and rail systems running.”
“They are literally what’s keeping us going. And they deserve a Secretary of Labor who knows how to build their power as workers,” Biden added.
Walsh reiterated Biden’s commitment to the working class, saying “nobody’s tougher than the American worker.”
“Working people have been struggling for a long time — under the erosion of their rights, and under deep inequalities of race, gender, and class,” Walsh said. “For the last four years, they’ve been under assault — from attacks on their rights; their livelihoods; and the unions that built the middle class.”
“And now — now we have the opportunity to put power back into the hands of working people,” Walsh added.
To lead the Small Business Administration, Biden settled on Isabel Guzman, director of California’s Office of the Small Business Advocate in the California Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development.
Guzman has played a role in the state’s economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. She is a former senior adviser and deputy chief of staff at the SBA, the federal agency she’s been tapped to lead, and was an adviser at the first California-chartered, Latino-formed business bank to form in Los Angeles in over 35 years.
“As head of the SBA, Isabel will be leading that critical mission to not only rescue small businesses in crisis, but to provide the capital to entrepreneurs across the country so they can innovate, create jobs, and help lead us into recovery,” Biden said. “I am grateful that she has accepted this call to serve.”
Guzman noted the pandemic’s disproportionate impact on minority-owned businesses, saying she shares Biden’s “commitment to help strengthen the many small business owners who have seen their dreams and livelihoods impacted by COVID-19.”
“I am excited to get to work with the incredible mission-driven civil servants at the SBA to help America’s small business owners build better futures for their families and communities,” she added.
Biden tapped Don Graves, one of his longtime advisers, to be the deputy commerce secretary.
Their relationship dates back to at least President Barack Obama’s time in office, when Graves served as executive director of the President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, later becoming a direct adviser to then-Vice President Biden.
Calling Graves a “good and loyal friend,” Biden said Graves “helped me lead our national strategy to equip our workers with the skills they need for the good-paying jobs of the 21st Century, in health care, IT, clean energy, advanced manufacturing, and more.”
Graves returned Biden’s praise in his own address, saying he has seen firsthand how Biden “brought people together to ensure American workers were equipped and matched with the skills for jobs in their own communities that also strengthened the economic competitiveness of our nation.”
“With Governor Raimondo, Mayor Walsh, Isabel, and the entire economic team, we will govern by that high standard you and the Vice President-elect continue to set,” Graves concluded.
“To revive the economy through the pandemic and build it back better.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.