Update (11/11/20): Ron Klain will be Biden’s White House chief of staff (read story here).
CNN’s guesses (read story here):
- Chief of Staff: Ron Klain, who was Biden’s chief of staff when Biden was vice president.
- Secretary of State: Susan Rice, who was Obama’s UN ambassador, and was mentioned as a possible Biden running mate.
- National Security Adviser: Antony Blinken, who was deputy national security adviser under Obama.
- UN Ambassador: Pete Buttigieg, former 2020 Democratic presidential primary candidate.
- Treasury Secretary: Lael Brainerd, a former treasury undersecretary under Obama, and now a member of the Federal Reserve Board.
- Secretary of Defense: Michelle Flourney, a longtime defense official who has served in strategy and policy positions at the Pentagon.
- Homeland Security: Alejandro Mayorkas, who served as deputy secretary of this department under Obama, and also ran the DACA and immigratio programs.
- Attorney General: Sally Yates, who was acting attorney general under Obama, and had the honor of being fired by Trump. Another possibility is Sen. Doug Jones, who was defeated for re-election last week; he gained fame as a federal prosecutor by winning convictions against KKK members involved in the infamous 1963 Birmingham church bombing.
- Secretary of Interior: Rep. Debra Haaland (D-NM), a Native American, and prominent member of the House Natural Resources Committee.
- Secretary of Labor: Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants.
- Secretary of Health and Human Services: Vivek Murthy, a doctor and a former surgeon general under Obama, and currently co-chair of Biden’s coronavirus advisory board.
- HUD Secretary: Keisha Lance Bottoms, mayor of Atlanta.
- Secretary of Education: Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers.
- EPA Administrator: Jay Inslee, Washington’s governor.
Politico’s guesses track CNN’s in some cases, but their article (read it here) also lists alternative candidates. Here are some where Politico’s guesses differ from CNN’s:
- Attorney General: Sen. Doug Jones, who gained famed as the federal prosecutor who convicted KKK members of the 1963 Birmingham church bombing; Sally Yates is mentioned.
- Secretary of Health and Human Services: Michelle Grisham, New Mexico’s governor; Dr. Murthy is among those also mentioned.
- Secretary of Transportation: Eric Garcetti, mayor of Los Angeles.
- Secretary of Commerce: Meg Whitman, former eBay and Hewlitt-Packard CEO.
- Secretary of Energy: Ernest Moniz, a nuclear physicist who served as Obama’s energy secretary. This department, in case you didn’t know, is responsible for America’s nuclear weapons arsenal.
- Secretary of Interior: Sen. Tom Udall (D-NM); his father was JFK’s and LBJ’s interior secretary.
- Secretary of Agriculture: Former Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND).
- Secretary of Labor: Julie Su, California’s labor secretary; Tom Perez, former labor secretary under Obama, is mentioned, as is Sara Nelson, and so is Sen. Bernie Sanders.
- Secretary of Housing and Urban Development: Alvin Brown, former mayor of Jacksonville, Florida, who also served in the Clinton administration in various capacities; Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms is among others mentioned.
- Secretary of Education: Lily Eskelson Garcia, former president of the National Education Association; Randi Weingarten is among those mentioned.
- Secretary of Veterans Affairs: Pete Buttigieg or Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), both veterans, for what is considered a thankless job.
- U.S. Trade Representative: Rep. Jimmy Gonzalez (D-CA), a member of the House Ways and Means Committee.
- EPA Administrator: Mary Nichols, chair of California Air Resources Board; Jay Inslee is mentioned, but is thought to be reluctant to give up his current position as Washington’s governor.
- UN Ambassador: Wendy Sherman, former State Department undersecretary under Obama, and currently at Harvard; Pete Buttigieg is mentioned.