When Joe Biden swears the oath of office at noon Wednesday becoming the 46th president of the United States, how the new president hopes to run his office has become more clear with his 15 Cabinet picks featuring important members of the Democratic Obama administration.
The U.S. Cabinet includes the vice president and the heads of 15 executive departments: the secretaries of agriculture, commerce, defense, education, energy, health and human services, homeland security, housing and urban development, interior, labor, state, transportation, treasury and veterans affairs, as well as the attorney general.
While the president may nominate the team that he wants to serve in his Cabinet, the Senate must vote to confirm the nominations.
Biden plans to nominate Tom Vilsack as the secretary of agriculture. Vilsack held the office of the secretary of agriculture under the Obama administration. Alejandro Mayorkas, who is thought for the role of secretary of homeland security, was the deputy secretary of the Department of Homeland Security under Barack Obama. He was also the director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services under Obama.
Another senior figure from the Obama era is Antony Blinken, who will be nominated for the secretary of state. Blinken served as President Obama’s deputy secretary of state. Denis McDonough is also expected to become the secretary of veterans affairs. McDonough served as Obama’s White House chief of staff.
Among other candidates, the former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen will serve as treasury secretary. According to the Wall Street Journal, Yellen will not only be the first woman to lead the Department of the Treasury but the “first person to have headed the Treasury, the central bank and the White House Council of Economic Advisers,” the three most powerful economic positions in the nation.
Deb Haaland is expected to be the first Native American Cabinet secretary, leading the Interior.
Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will also be the first woman to become vice president.
Donald Trump left Washington three hours before Biden's swearing-in, the first American president to skip the inauguration of his successor in more than 150 years.
The inauguration comes exactly two weeks after Trump supporters stormed the Capitol in a bid to disrupt the certification by Congress of Biden's November election victory.
