Biden Taps Ex-Obama Aides Rice and McDonough for Policy, VA Jobs
Biden Taps Denis McDonough for Secretary of Veterans Affairs
(Bloomberg) -- President-elect Joe Biden is turning to two officials in the inner circle of the Obama White House for top jobs in his administration, announcing Thursday that he had picked Denis McDonough as Veterans Affairs secretary and Susan Rice as top White House domestic policy adviser.
McDonough, who was President Barack Obama’s chief of staff, would become just the second non-veteran to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs, which has been beset by scandal across both Democratic and Republican administrations.
The Biden transition office also made official Thursday the previously reported nominations of Tom Vilsack to return as Agriculture secretary, Ohio Congresswoman Marcia Fudge to be secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and Katherine Tai to be U.S. trade representative.
The nominations of McDonough, Vilsack, Fudge and Tai would require Senate confirmation. As Obama’s chief of staff, McDonough oversaw the VA’s overhaul in response to its 2014 wait-time scandal and previously served as a deputy national security adviser.
The Biden transition called him “a first-class manager” who can navigate the ins and outs of government to improve health care and other services for the government. The VA has been the fastest-growing cabinet department over the last decade and is second in size only to the Defense Department.
Rice will lead what the Biden transition team called a “newly empowered” Domestic Policy Council, a change-up from a long career in foreign policy that included stints as United Nations ambassador and national security adviser.
But Rice, who was also considered for the vice presidency, has become increasingly vocal on health care, economic and racial justice issues this year. She has spoken out on the Trump administration’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic and Black Lives Matter protests.
Her appointment would not require Senate approval. She continues to face opposition from some Senate Republicans as a consequence of controversial talking points she delivered after the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya in 2011, and over the unmasking of Trump national security adviser Mike Flynn in 2016.
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