Biden's team is banking on the Senate backing 'competent public servants' for his Cabinet

(Image credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

published 19 November 2020

President-elect Joe Biden's life will be a lot easier if Democrats Rafael Warnock and Jon Ossoff win the Georgia Senate runoff elections on Jan. 5, because if the Republicans pick up even one of the seats, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) will retain control of the Senate. That would complicate Biden's ambitious legislative agenda, but it would also give McConnell a say in the type of people Biden chooses for his Cabinet. The president-elect has a working plan, though.

Biden's team will probably scrap "the old playbook dictating that nominees say nothing in public until their hearings," a transition official told ABC News. "We are operating under belief that the Senate will be under substantial pressure from the public and voters across the country — as well as from their allies in the business community and throughout Washington — to take action on the economy and public health crises, to confirm nominees, and rebuild federal agencies with competent public servants."

Toward that end, Biden has put several communications specialists on his nominations team, led by former White House Communications Director Jen Psaki, ABC News and Politico report. The team intends "to introduce Biden's Cabinet picks to the American people before their Senate hearings, which could include media blitzes to build up public support," Politico reports. "There's a risk, however, that the increased exposure could lead to embarrassing gaffes or missteps by nominees."

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It's also not clear McConnell, at least, would care about an opinion-oriented strategy, Jake Sherman and Anna Palmer note at Politico. McConnell's maxim is "if you can beat him, beat him," and "if you can't, then that's too bad. He doesn't care for letters urging him to do things, or press conferences calling him the devil. To call it bare-knuckle politics would be kind." Asked about his reputedly fruitful relationship with Biden on Wednesday, they report, McConnell "stopped talking on a dime, stared up at an elevator and gazed at it as if it were a Picasso. Seconds later, he got in the elevator and went on with his day."

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.