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Will Harris appoint an all-new Cabinet? What about less-senior political staff in federal agencies? Are they expected to keep working on the Biden-Harris agenda just to get the boot come January?
This was a question that came up during a recent live chat we hosted. The short answer: Should Vice President Kamala Harris — the Democratic nominee — win, all presidential appointments will be up to her. So if she wanted to retain President Joe Biden’s entire Cabinet, she could, or she could ask all of them to resign. Beyond the Cabinet, there are more than 4,000 political appointees throughout the federal government, all of whom Harris and her team would be able to keep or fire at their discretion.
Harris pledged in an interview that aired on CNN on Thursday that she would appoint a Republican to her Cabinet if elected.
Many Democrats expect that Harris would appoint new Cabinet secretaries, as she will want to put her own stamp on the administration. Moreover, given the relative stability of Biden’s Cabinet — most Cabinet secretaries have served the entire administration — officials expect that many of them would be looking to move on from their roles. But many officials working in the Biden administration in roles below the Cabinet level hope that they could keep their jobs or find new ones, should Harris win.
Harris officials, however, say that no personnel decisions will be made until after Election Day, should Harris win. Still, the Harris campaign has officially begun presidential transition activities, tapping Yohannes Abraham, the U.S. ambassador to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, to lead the effort.
Abraham served as the executive director of Biden’s transition team before joining the White House and working on the National Security Council. Abraham will be working with Covington & Burling, a law firm in Washington, to set up the transition operations. Without making personnel decisions, Abraham and his team will largely be focused on setting up the operational elements that Harris and her team will need to transition into the government should she defeat Donald Trump in November.
The Trump campaign has also created a transition team, led by Linda McMahon, who served as the administrator of the Small Business Administration during Trump’s presidency, and Howard Lutnick, the CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald.
The timeline for the presidential transition process is outlined by the General Services Administration, an independent federal agency that helps manage and support the sprawling U.S. government.