Joe Biden S Cabinet

Biden Administration Joe Biden • Kamala Harris

Administration: News • Joe Biden's Cabinet • Confirmation process for Cabinet nominees • Confirmation votes by senator • Executive orders and actions • Key legislation • Vetoes • White House staff • Ambassadors • Special envoys • Weekly addresses • Multistate lawsuits• Polling

Transition: White House senior staff • Agency review teams • Certification of electoral votes • 2020 presidential election

2024 election: Presidential election • Presidential candidates • Kamala Harris presidential campaign • Joe Biden presidential campaign

A presidential Cabinet is a group of senior federal officials who advise the president on the issues and activities of their respective agencies. The number of officials in a Cabinet can vary across presidential administrations. There were 26 officials in Joe Biden's Cabinet.

At the end of his time in office, there were two vacancies among the 26 positions in President Joe Biden's (D) Cabinet: Labor Secretary and U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary. Former Labor Secretary Marty Walsh resigned on March 11, 2023. Biden's nominee for the position, Julie Su, served as the acting secretary.^[1] U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia Fudge resigned from her position on March 22, 2024.^[2] Former Deputy Secretary Adrianne Todman served as acting secretary.^[3]

The Cabinet tradition is rooted in Article II, Section 2, Clause 1 of the Constitution, which states that the president "may require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any Subject relating to the Duties of their respective Offices."^[4]

While not explicitly identified in the Constitution, the Cabinet secretaries are the 15 agency heads who are in the presidential line of succession. The vice president is also part of the Cabinet.

The following offices were also Cabinet-rank positions in the Biden administration:^[5]

All but two of these Cabinet positions—vice president and White House chief of staff—required Senate confirmation.

Click here to read more about each member.

President Donald Trump (R) did not include the chair of the Council of Economic Advisers, ambassador to the United Nations, or director of Office of Science and Technology Policy in his final Cabinet.^[6]

President Barack Obama (D) established a similar Cabinet to Biden's but did not include the directors of National Intelligence, Central Intelligence, or Office of Science and Technology Policy.^[7]

This page includes the following information:

• Cabinet and Cabinet-level appointees
• Confirmation process overview
• Historical comparison of Cabinet confirmations
• Historical comparison of Cabinet announcements
• Potential Cabinet and Cabinet-level appointees

Cabinet and Cabinet-level appointees[edit]

The following individuals were members of Biden's Cabinet. They were either confirmed by the U.S. Senate or held a position that did not require Senate confirmation.

Kamala Harris Vice President	Tony Blinken Secretary of State	Lloyd Austin Secretary of Defense	Janet Yellen Secretary of the Treasury

Merrick Garland Attorney General	Gina Raimondo Secretary of Commerce	Pete Buttigieg Secretary of Transportation	Alejandro Mayorkas Secretary of Homeland Security

Jennifer Granholm Secretary of Energy	Miguel Cardona Secretary of Education	Tom Vilsack Secretary of Agriculture	Debra Haaland Secretary of the Interior

Xavier Becerra Secretary of Health and Human Services	Julie Su Acting Secretary of Labor	Denis McDonough Secretary of Veterans Affairs	Adrianne Todman Acting Secretary of Housing and Urban Development

Avril Haines Director of National Intelligence	Linda Thomas-Greenfield U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations	Katherine Tai U.S. Trade Representative	Isabel Guzman Administrator of the Small Business Administration

Jared Bernstein Council of Economic Advisers Chair	Michael Regan Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency	Shalanda Young Director of the Office of Management and Budget	Arati Prabhakar Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy

William J. Burns Director of the Central Intelligence Agency	Jeff Zients White House Chief of Staff

Confirmation process[edit]

See also: Confirmation process for Joe Biden's Cabinet nominees

The following table provides an overview of the confirmation hearings and committee and Senate votes for each of Biden's Cabinet and Cabinet-rank nominees.

Impeachment of Cabinet officials[edit]

See also: Impeachment of federal officials

House vote in favor of articles of impeachment against Alejandro Mayorkas (2024)[edit]

See also: Impeachment of Alejandro Mayorkas, 2024

On April 17, 2024, the U.S. Senate dismissed two articles of impeachment against U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas. In two votes along party lines, with Democrats supporting and Republicans opposing the motions, the Senate voted that the allegations in the articles of impeachment did not meet the definition of high crimes and misdemeanors.^[10]

The U.S. House of Representatives voted to approve two articles of impeachment against Mayorkas on February 13, 2024. The vote was 214-213, with 214 Republicans voting in favor. Three Republicans, Reps. Michael Gallagher (R-Wis.), Ken Buck (R-Colo.), Tom McClintock (R-Calif.), and 210 Democrats voted against impeachment. This was the second time the articles of impeachment were put up for a vote, following a failed vote on February 6, 2024. The House transmitted the articles of impeachment to the U.S. Senate on April 16, 2024.

The articles of impeachment alleged that Mayorkas "willfully and systemically refused to comply with the immigration laws, failed to control the border to the detriment of national security, compromised public safety, and violated the rule of law and separation of powers in the Constitution" and breached the public trust "by knowingly making false statements to Congress and the American people and avoiding lawful oversight in order to obscure the devastating consequences of his willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law and carry out his statutory duties."^[11]

Mayorkas responded to the House Committee on Homeland Security's vote to approve the impeachment articles, saying, "I assure you that your false accusations do not rattle me and do not divert me from the law enforcement and broader public service mission to which I have devoted most of my career and to which I remain devoted."^[12]

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) introduced the articles of impeachment on November 13, 2023. The articles were amended by the House Committee on Homeland Security, and passed the committee in a vote along party lines, with all Republicans voting in favor, on January 31, 2024.^[11]

This was the first time the House voted on articles of impeachment against a Cabinet secretary since 1876. In 1876, Secretary of War William Belknap was impeached for "criminally disregarding his duty as Secretary of War and basely prostituting his high office to his lust for private gain."^[13][14]

Former Cabinet members[edit]

Marcia Fudge (2021-2024)[edit]

Fudge resigned as President Joe Biden's (D) U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary on March 22, 2024. She announced her resignation on March 11, 2024.^[15] Fudge said in a statement, "It has always been my belief that government can and should work for the people. For the last three years, I have fully embraced HUD's mission to create strong, sustainable, inclusive communities and quality affordable homes for all. The people HUD serves are those who are often left out and left behind. These are my people. They serve as my motivation for everything we have been able to accomplish."^[15]

After her resignation announcement, Biden said, "Under Marcia’s transformational leadership, we have worked hard to lower housing costs and increase supply. We’ve proposed the largest investment in affordable housing in U.S. history. We’ve taken steps to aggressively combat racial discrimination in housing by ensuring home appraisals are more fair and by strengthening programs to redress the negative impacts of redlining. Thanks to Secretary Fudge, we’ve helped first-time homebuyers, and we are working to cut the cost of renting. And there are more housing units under construction right now than at any time in the last 50 years. [...] I’m grateful for all of her contributions toward a housing system that works for all Americans, and I wish her well in her next chapter."^[16]

Cecilia Rouse (2021-2023)[edit]

Cecilia Rouse was the chairwoman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers. On March 31, 2023, Rouse resigned from her position as chairwoman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers. Rouse resumed teaching economics at Princeton University following her resignation.^[17] Rouse announced her resignation in November 2022.^[18]

In a statement, President Joe Biden (D) said, "The U.S. economy has been tested in the past 2 years, creating challenges unlike any since the Great Depression. As Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers, Cecilia Rouse has been at the forefront navigating this unprecedented economic moment. No matter the challenge, Cecilia provided insightful analysis, assessed problems in a new way, and insisted that we examine the accumulation of evidence in drawing conclusions. And she's maintained steadfast calmness through it all."^[19]

Jared Bernstein was nominated as her successor in February 2023.^[20]

Marty Walsh (2021-2023)[edit]

Marty Walsh was the secretary of labor. On March 11, 2023, Walsh resigned as U.S. Secretary of Labor.^[21] The Daily Faceoff first reported on February 7 that Walsh would resign from his position as secretary of labor in the Biden administration to work as the executive director of the National Hockey League Players' Association. The outlet said the resignation would take effect sometime after Biden's February 7 state of the union address.^[22] On February 16, Walsh officially announced he intended to resign in mid-March to begin working as the executive director of the National Hockey League Players' Association.^[23]

The following day, President Joe Biden (D) said in a statement, "[Walsh's] record at the Department of Labor is a testament to the power of putting a card-carrying union member in charge of fighting for American workers. Marty has gone to bat for working families every day, and with his help, this administration has helped workers recover from a historic economic downturn and launch a new era of worker power."^[24]

Biden nominated Deputy Labor Secretary Julie Su to replace Walsh.^[25]

Ron Klain (2021-2023)[edit]

Ron Klain was the White House chief of staff. Biden named Klain his White House chief of staff and assistant to the president on November 11, 2020. "Ron has been invaluable to me over the many years that we have worked together, including as we rescued the American economy from one of the worst downturns in our history in 2009 and later overcame a daunting public health emergency in 2014," Biden said in a statement.^[26]

Klain submitted a resignation letter to Biden on January 27, 2023. In the letter, he said, "The halfway point of your first term - with two successful years behind us, and key decisions on the next two years ahead — is the right time for this team to have fresh leadership. I have served longer than eight of the last nine Chiefs of Staff, and have given this job my all; now it is time for someone else to take it on."^[27] Biden announced he had selected Jeff Zients to replace Klain the same day.^[27] Klain's final day at the White House took place on February 7, with Zients officially beginning as chief of staff on February 8, 2023.^[28]

Eric Lander (2021-2022)[edit]

Eric Lander was the director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy. President Joe Biden (D) announced that Lander, a geneticist, molecular biologist, and mathematician, was his nominee for the position on January 16, 2021. Biden also elevated the position have Cabinet-rank status.^[26] The Senate confirmed Lander by voice vote on May 28, 2021.^[29]

On February 7, 2022, Lander submitted a letter of resignation to President Joe Biden (D).^[30] In the letter, Lander said: "I have sought to push myself and my colleagues to reach our shared goals — including at times challenging and criticizing. But it is clear that things I said, and the way I said them, crossed the line at times into being disrespectful and demeaning, to both men and women."^[31] His resignation was set to be effective no later than February 18.^[30] To read more, click here.

Historical comparison of Cabinet confirmations[edit]

Comparison to Trump administration[edit]

The following chart compares how many days it took after the inaugurations in 2017 and 2021 for the Cabinet secretaries of Presidents Donald Trump (R) and Joe Biden (D), respectively, to be confirmed. This chart includes the main 15 Cabinet positions.

Comparison to Obama administration[edit]

The following chart compares how many days it took after the inaugurations in 2009 and 2021 for the Cabinet secretaries of Presidents Barack Obama (D) and Joe Biden (D), respectively, to be confirmed. This chart includes the main 15 Cabinet positions.

Historical comparison of Cabinet announcements[edit]

The following chart shows how long it took the projected winner of three recent presidential elections—Barack Obama (D) in 2008, Donald Trump (R) in 2016, and Joe Biden (D) in 2020—to begin to announce their nominees for Cabinet and Cabinet-rank positions.

• White House chief of staff was the first position to be announced by all three with Obama taking the shortest time (2 days after the election) and Biden the longest (8 days after the election).
• With the exception of the chair of the Council of Economic Advisers, which was not Cabinet-rank in Trump's administration, Trump had named all of his nominees 72 days out.
• Obama took 45 days to do the same. (The director of national intelligence was not a Cabinet-rank position in his administration.)

Confirmation hearing process for Cabinet nominees[edit]

See also: Appointment confirmation process

After the president submits a written nomination to the U.S. Senate, the nomination is passed to the Senate committee with jurisdiction over the appointed position. Some positions require a joint hearing of two or more committees. Committee hearings allow a close examination of the nominee, looking for partisanship and views on public policy. They can also summon supporters and opponents to testify. Committees are permitted to conduct their own investigations into the nominees.^[32]

The following table outlines the jurisdiction of the Senate committees in terms of the presidential appointment confirmation process. The left column indicates the Senate committee, and the right indicates the federal departments and administrations over which the committee has jurisdiction.^[32]

Click here to learn more about the appointment confirmation process.

Potential Cabinet and Cabinet-level appointees[edit]

The following table shows potential appointees to Cabinet and Cabinet-level positions based on reports from several outlets, including Politico and The Washington Post.^{[34][35][36][37][38]} They are listed in alphabetical order by last name.

See also[edit]

• Joe Biden presidential transition
• Presidential election, 2020
• Ballotpedia's 2020 Election Help Desk: Presidential election results subject to lawsuits and recounts
• Ballotpedia's Daily Transition Tracker
• Donald Trump presidential Cabinet, 2017-2021

Footnotes[edit]