President Biden’s Cabinet
Here’s where President Biden’s Cabinet nominees stand
Delivering on his ambitious agenda will depend on getting his team up and running
President Joe Biden took office on January 20 without key members of his Cabinet in place after the Senate moved more slowly to schedule confirmation hearings than it had for previous presidents.
The chamber, now led by Democrats after six years of Republican control, can now confirm Cabinet nominations without Republican support. Vice President Kamala Harris, who was also sworn in on January 20, can act as a tie-breaking vote in a chamber made up of 50 Republican and 50 Democratic senators.
Several of Biden’s Cabinet picks would make history if confirmed by the Senate as the first woman or person of color to serve in their role. Many also have decades of experience in their field and served in President Barack Obama’s administration.
But whether the Senate will confirm these Cabinet nominations in an orderly fashion remains to be seen. Over the past two administrations, the typically uneventful swearing in of new Cabinet appointees has taken close to the first 100 days of their first terms as presidents.
How long it took each new president to confirm their Cabinet
The Cabinet
The average Cabinet nominee for both Trump and Obama's first terms was confirmed in 20 days. See how long it took for each of Biden's Cabinet members to be confirmed — starting from the day the President submitted their nomination to the Senate — and how it compares with the Trump-Obama average for each Cabinet position.
Harris has made history as the first female, first Black and first South Asian American vice president. She served as a United States senator from 2017 until this year, and ran for president in 2020, but dropped out during the Democratic primary. She was the first woman and first Black woman to serve as California’s attorney general. She was the first Black woman from California to serve in the US Senate, and second from any state, after Illinois' Carol Moseley Braun. Harris was also the first person of Indian descent to appear on a presidential ticket. She is the daughter of immigrants to the United States from Jamaica and India.
Blinken served in the Obama administration as the deputy secretary of state, assistant to the president and principal deputy national security adviser. He served as the national security adviser to Biden when he was vice president and was a deputy assistant to the president during Obama's first term.
Yellen is the first woman to serve as Treasury secretary. Yellen already made history as the first woman to have chaired the Federal Reserve. She previously served as the vice chair of the board, and president and chief executive officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. Yellen was also chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers from 1997 to 1999.
Austin is the first Black person to lead the Pentagon. Austin was approved for a congressional waiver to be confirmed for the civilian post because federal law requires seven years of retirement from active duty before taking on the role. Austin retired from active-duty service only four years ago. He is a retired Army general and served as the commander of the US Central Command.
Garland is a federal judge on the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit, and was appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1997. President Barack Obama nominated Garland to the Supreme Court after a vacancy was created by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia in 2016. But Republicans, led by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, refused for months to hold confirmation hearings or the required vote in the chamber. Garland previously served as principal associate deputy attorney general.
Haaland would be the first Native American Cabinet secretary if confirmed by the Senate. Haaland made history in 2018 when she was elected as one of the two first female Native Americans in Congress. In 2016, Haaland traveled to North Dakota to take part in the protests over plans to build a pipeline underneath a key source of water for the Standing Rock Reservation.
Vilsack served as agriculture secretary for the entirety of President Barack Obama's time in the White House. Vilsack is also the former governor of Iowa — in 1998, he became the first Democrat elected governor of the state in more than 30 years.
Raimondo is the first woman governor of Rhode Island and has served since 2015. Raimondo was elected to serve as general treasurer of Rhode Island in 2010. She co-founded Point Judith Capital, an early stage venture capital firm.
Walsh has served as mayor of Boston since 2014 and is a veteran union operative. He led Boston's Building and Construction Trades Council, a group that represents ironworker and electrician unions, among others. Walsh's selection is a victory for AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, who rallied his federation of 56 unions to back the Boston mayor soon after Biden won the election.
Becerra would be the first Latino to lead the Department of Health and Human Services if confirmed by the Senate. He currently serves as California's attorney general, and is the first Latino to hold that office in the history of the state. As the state’s attorney general, Becerra has been a chief defender of the Affordable Care Act in court. Becerra served 12 terms in Congress as a member of the US House of Representatives.
Fudge has represented Ohio's 11th Congressional District since 2008. She previously chaired the Congressional Black Caucus. Prior to running for Congress, Fudge made history as the first woman and first African American to be elected mayor of Warrensville Heights, Ohio.
Buttigieg made history as the first out LGBTQ Cabinet secretary approved by the Senate. The former South Bend, Indiana, mayor is the youngest member nominated for Biden's Cabinet, at 38 years old. The former mayor is seen as a rising star in the Democratic Party and rose to national prominence during the 2020 Democratic primary.
Granholm served two terms as governor of Michigan, and was the first woman to be elected governor of the state. In that role, Granholm worked closely with the auto industry, the dominant industry in the Great Lakes State, which could help Biden as he attempts to move the country toward electric vehicles. Granholm was also the first woman to serve as Michigan’s attorney general.
Cardona, whose parents moved from Puerto Rico to Connecticut, would be a high-profile Latino in the Cabinet if confirmed by the US Senate. Cardona has been a leading proponent of sending children back to school, saying too many students are falling behind during virtual learning amid the coronavirus pandemic. He serves as Connecticut's commissioner of education.
McDonough served as chief of staff during Obama's entire second term, and also worked as deputy national security adviser. He chaired the National Security Council's Deputies Committee, which is responsible for formulating the administration's national security and foreign policy. McDonough also previously served as the chief of staff for the national security staff and as the deputy national security adviser for strategic communications.
Mayorkas is the first Latino and immigrant as secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. He was deputy secretary of Homeland Security during the Obama administration, and served as the director of the DHS's United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. Mayorkas oversaw the implementation of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which was an executive action under Obama that protected young undocumented immigrants who came to the US as children from deportation.
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