Now that all the major news organizations have declared Joe Biden the president-elect, focus is shifting to his transition and speculation about whom he will pick for his inner circle.
President Donald Trump selected several Georgians for his team, including U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue and former Health Secretary Tom Price. Callista Gingrich, wife of former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich, serves as the ambassador to the Vatican.
The question now is: Which Georgia Democrats could be on Biden’s radar for his administration? The names you are most likely to hear are Stacey Abrams, whose commitment to voter access and engagement helped Biden win the state this year, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, an early surrogate of the president-elect, and former acting Attorney General Sally Yates, who stood up to Trump on immigration.
So far, we already know at least two Peach State native swill serve in the White House. General Lloyd Austin has been appointed to lead the Department of Defense, and Kate Bedingfield was recently named Biden’s communications director.
There are others who may be picked but who aren’t currently household names. To create this list, we did our own reporting and consulted other sources like Axios, Politico and USA Today.
Here is an overview of some of the people mentioned in early speculation, including what roles they could fill on the Biden team and their qualifications. We will update as we hear more.
Who already got a job?
Lloyd Austin
Role: secretary of defense
The Thomasville native and retired four-star general would become the first Black person to serve as defense secretary. He retired from the Army in 2016 after serving as the 12th Commander of the U.S. Central Command. Because his is not a civilian, Austin’s appointment requires a congressional waiver and that has already made his appointment somewhat controversial. During the Obama administration, Austin oversaw the drawdown of troops in Iraq.
Kate Bedingfield
Role: White House communications director
Bedingfield grew up in Sandy Springs and attended Riverwood High School. She served as the Biden campaign’s deputy campaign manager and director of communications. She is also a veteran of the Obama administration, where she served in various roles including communications chief to then-Vice President Biden.
Who may be in the running for a job?
Stacey Abrams
Possible role: attorney general
The former candidate for governor is credited with creating a blueprint that helped turn Georgia into a battleground state. Although many mention her as a potential pick for attorney general — she has a law degree and was appointed deputy city attorney in Atlanta before becoming a legislator — we wonder whether she would also accept a role more tailored to her work on voting rights.
Keisha Lance Bottoms
Possible role: Small Business Administration, transportation secretary
The Atlanta mayor was one of Biden’s earliest and highest-profile surrogates, backing his bid early in the primary when it wasn’t certain he could beat back more liberal challengers. Now there is speculation she will be rewarded with an offer to join the administration, although it is unclear whether she would accept it and eschew running for a second term as mayor. One title being floated was secretary of housing and urban development, but that job went to U.S. Rep. Marcia Fudge of Ohio. More recently, she has also been mentioned as an option at transportation secretary, hailing from a city well known for gridlock, or to lead the business development agency.
Sally Yates
Possible role: attorney general
Yates was acting attorney general upon Trump’s election, but he fired her early in his tenure when she refused to enforce a policy banning immigration from Muslim countries. A former U.S. attorney, she rose to second in command at the U.S. Justice Department during the Obama years. One of Biden’s top fundraisers in Georgia, she is now in the mix to once again serve as attorney general.
Raphael Bostic
Possible role: Federal Reserve chair
President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, Bostic is under consideration as a possible treasury secretary or chair of the Federal Reserve. If either happens, he would be the first Black person to fill the role. Bostic already holds the claim of being the first African American in history to serve as a regional president in the central bank.
Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall
Possible role: energy secretary
A former deputy secretary of energy during the Obama administration, Sherwood-Randall is among the leading candidates to lead the Energy Department. She currently works at Georgia Tech as a distinguished professor in the School of International Affairs and a senior fellow at the Strategic Energy Institute.
Heather McTeer Toney
Possible role: Environmental Protection Agency director
We will admit, Toney is more accurately described as a former Georgian. She once served as head of the EPA’s Atlanta-based Southeast Regional Office. The former mayor of Greenville, Miss., is currently senior director of the Moms for Clean Air Force, an organization focused on addressing pollution, climate change and other issues.
Gwendolyn Keyes Fleming
Possible role: Environmental Protection Agency director
Fleming is another former director of the EPA’s Southeast Regional Office. She currently serves as a consultant for DeKalb County on its consent decree with state and federal regulators to reduce the number of sewage spills. A former DeKalb district attorney and solicitor general, she also served for a time as the EPA’s chief of staff.
Annie Andrews
Possible role: Secretary of the Navy
Andrews currently serves as an assistant administrator for human resources at the Federal Aviation Administration, but she is a former rear admiral of the U.S. Navy. In that role, she served as commander of the Navy Recruiting Command and became the third black woman in history to earn her rank. Andrews earned her undergraduate degree from Savannah State University.
Jim Powell
Possible role: Department of Energy
Powell served as the federal representative to the Southern States Energy Board during the Obama administration. He is a previous candidate for Georgia’s Public Service Commission, where he was defeated by Bubba McDonald in the 2008 runoffs. He also is a former national program manager at the U.S. Department of Energy.
Who else?
We know that the biggest fundraisers for a campaign are often rewarded with diplomatic titles or posts on one of the dozens of federal commissions and advisory boards. So allow us to share this list of Biden’s top bundlers in Georgia who raised at least $100,000 and aren’t already mentioned above.
- State Transportation Board member Kevin Abel
- Former Ambassador Gordon Giffin
- Peter Harrell, former deputy assistant secretary of state
- RADCO Cos. founder and CEO Norman Radow,
- Kenneth Taylor, a cardiologist
- Michèle Taylor, a Democratic strategist
- Former Democratic Party of Georgia Chairman David Worley
This article was originally published on Nov. 10, 2020. It has been updated.
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