Through his early appointments of key White House officials, President-elect Joe Biden has continued to demonstrate a stark difference between himself and lame-duck President Donald Trump.
Prior to his plan over Thanksgiving to announce Cabinet-level positions, Biden named a diverse group of individuals to staff posts that include five women and four individuals of color.
The appointments help to fulfill a campaign promise in which Biden said he’d have a senior staff that “looks like America.”
By contrast, Trump employed mostly white and male administrators. The most recent demographics show that the outgoing president has four women and 19 men in Cabinet or Cabinet-level positions and his judiciary picks have overwhelming been white men.
Biden has promised to nominate a Black woman to the Supreme Court.
Among the appointments made by Biden is former Congressional Black Caucus chairperson and current Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-La.), recently named senior adviser to the president and director of the White House Office of Public Engagement.
Richmond deftly led the Biden campaign to victory, signing on with the former vice president when the Democratic field of contenders remained wide open.
Richmond counts as a leader in helping to enact landmark criminal justice reform and ensuring that the people of Louisiana’s 2nd District were prepared for emergencies and natural disasters through his oversight of the Federal Emergency Management Agency on the House Committee on Homeland Security.
Born and raised in New Orleans, Richmond is a graduate of Morehouse College and Tulane University School of Law, where he earned induction into the Hall of Fame.
Biden also announced Julie Rodriguez as his director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs. She served as a deputy campaign manager on the Biden-Harris Campaign.
Before that, she was the national political director and traveling chief of staff for Sen. Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign. Rodriguez also served as a special assistant to the president under Barack Obama.
In a news release, Biden’s campaign officials noted that “these diverse, experienced and talented individuals demonstrate President-elect Biden’s commitment to building an administration that looks like America.”
The campaign noted further that each has deep government expertise and will be ready to help the president-elect deliver results for working families on day one.
“I am proud to announce additional members of my senior team who will help us build back better than before,” Biden stated. “America faces great challenges and they bring diverse perspectives and a shared commitment to tackling these challenges and emerging on the other side, a stronger, more united nation.”
Incoming White House chief of staff Ron Klain pointed to the ambitious goals of the incoming administration.
“President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris have an ambitious and urgent agenda for action. The team we have already started to assemble will enable us to meet the challenges facing our country on day one,” Klain said.
The other appointees announced Tuesday include:
Anthony Bernal, senior adviser to Jill Biden; Mike Donilon, senior adviser to the president; Jen O’Malley Dillon, deputy chief of staff; Dana Remus, counsel to the president; Julissa Reynoso Pantaleon, chief of staff to Jill Biden; Steve Ricchetti, counselor to the president; and Annie Tomasini, director of Oval Office operations.