TORONTO -- The cabinet of the Biden administration could be one of the most diverse in American history but it remains to be seen if the U.S. president will deliver on his promise that his nominees will advocate for the vast interests of the country.
Biden said his cabinet picks, a large number of whom were in the Obama White House, represent 鈥bold new thinking.鈥 But one scholar said people in 2021 are demanding more than simply window dressing.
鈥淎re we to assume that because somebody is racialized they鈥檒l be more race-conscious?鈥 Laura J. Kwak, an assistant sociology professor at York University, told CTVNews.ca over the phone. She added just because leaders are women, doesn鈥檛 necessarily mean they鈥檒l fight for 鈥渄emands of women, including on reproductive rights.鈥
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Kwak has researched examples of past representation among political parties and cited Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan, who himself faced racism, as an example of when representation in a role didn鈥檛 necessarily lead to a drastic change in policy.
鈥淲hat, in our national policy, has significantly shifted?鈥 she said. 鈥淚t is the hope that those that are racialized will bring a different kind of perspective to these debates but cabinet ministers are also required to tow the party line. How far can you really go?鈥
Biden鈥檚 cabinet -- which is 46 per cent women -- contains slightly fewer women proportionally than the U.S. as a whole. Around one in five of Biden鈥檚 secretaries are Black and one out of 10 of them are Asian or Pacific Islander;
Rounding out the cabinet picks include 15 per cent of them being Hispanic or Latinx, with around four per cent of the picks being Indigenous. But Kwak said that 鈥渨hat鈥檚 more significant than the numerical representation, or the symbolic representation, is the substantive representation.鈥
Here are some of the nominees for Biden's cabinet:
JANET YELLEN, SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY
Janet Louise Yellen, an American economist, became the first woman to lead the U.S. Federal Reserve from 2014 to 2018. While it鈥檚 common for former Federal Reserve leaders, like her, and former government officials to make money on the speech circuit, some have questioned conflicts of interest such as her stakes in Pzizer and DuPont. But last month, she said she鈥檇 divest from them within 90 days.
She appealed to some progressives, such as Sen. Elizabeth Warren, in part because of her crackdown on the bank Wells Fargo by imposing unprecedented growth restrictions. But she鈥檚 also received praise from Republicans Sen. Chuck Grassley and Sen. John Thune.
LLOYD AUSTIN, SECRETARY OF DEFENCE
Austin has pledged to 鈥渦phold the principle of civilian control of the military" and would be the first Black man to lead the Pentagon.
But in order to win his confirmation, he鈥檇 need to be granted a waiver so he鈥檇 be able to get past the law that a secretary must wait seven years after leaving active duty to serve.
DEB HAALAND, SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
The 60-year-old representative from New Mexico is a member of the Laguna Pueblo, one of 574 sovereign tribal nations across 35 U.S. states, and if confirmed, she would be the first Native American cabinet secretary. In the role, she鈥檇 likely play a role in undoing Trump鈥檚 rollbacks of environmental protections.
Indigenous communities in both Canada and the U.S. are disproportionately vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and environmental damage from oil and other polluting industries. But she boasted in her acceptance speech: 鈥淚鈥檒l be fierce for all of us, for our planet, and all of our protected land.鈥
XAVIER BECERRA, SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
If nominated, former California Attorney General Becerra could be the first Latino to run the department. His department would be primarily responsible to oversee the safety of drugs -- through the Food and Drug Administration -- and primarily tasked to deal with outbreaks and pandemic response, through the Centres of Disease Control and Prevention.
The role would be incredibly important as part of Biden鈥檚 100-day plan to stop the spread of COVID-19, which has already killed more than 400,000 Americans since the pandemic began.
PETE BUTTIGIEG, SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION
The former Mayor of South Bend, Ind., and former 2020 Democratic presidential hopeful has become a fierce defender of Biden over the past year. Should he be confirmed by the U.S. Senate, 鈥淢ayor Pete鈥 would be the first openly LGBTQ cabinet secretary.
He served his country from 2009 to 2017, as an intelligence officer in the United States Navy Reserve, attaining the rank of lieutenant. And he later was deployed to Afghanistan for seven months in 2014.
MIGUEL CARDONA, SECRETARY OF EDUCATION
Cardona most recently served as the Connecticut commissioner of education. He spent 21 years of his 23-year career as an educator, beginning as a fourth-grade teacher. Then in 2003, at the age of 27, he became the youngest principal in the state.
According to the , Cardona has focused on being the counteracting force to what he and some education scholars and politicians call the 鈥渘ormalization of failure鈥 or the 鈥渟oft bigotry of low expectations.鈥
ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS, SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY
If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, he will be the first immigrant and Latino to hold the job.
Born in Cuba, he went on to graduate from law school and serve as U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California. Under the Obama administration, he served in the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Customs and Immigration Service director.
MICHAEL REGAN, EPA ADMINISTRATOR
He worked in the Environmental Protection Agency in the past, under U.S. Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush and if nominated he would be the first Black man to lead the agency.
His last role was as the head of North Carolina鈥檚 Department of Environmental Quality, where he oversaw the massive cleanup of coal ash ponds, which can contaminate both the air and water. Before that, he worked for the nonprofit Environmental Defense Fund.
NEERA TANDEN, OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET DIRECTOR
Because of her past criticism of GOP lawmakers, her confirmation might be a bit more of a challenge. But the current president of the liberal think tank Centre for American Progress would be in charge of the yearly budget proposals.
If she squeaks by the confirmation, the political consultant would be the first woman of colour to take up the role at OMB. Under the Obama Administration, she also helped draft the Affordable Care Act while she served in the Health and Human Services Department.
KATHERINE TAI, U.S. TRADE REPRESENTATIVE
Currently the top trade lawyer for the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee, she would be the first Asian American to hold the job if the U.S. Senate confirms her. In the recent past, she helped America negotiate a trade agreement with Mexico.
Her experience on the committee will come in handy as she will be primarily responsible for negotiating trade disputes with other countries and developing the trade policy of the U.S.
ISABEL GUZMAN, SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATOR
The Small Business Administration was her home during the Obama administration where she served as the deputy chief of staff and senior advisor.
Before that she was a former entrepreneur herself and earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. She鈥檚 currently the Small Business Advocate in the California governor鈥檚 Office of Business and Economic Development.
LINDA THOMAS-GREENFIELD, UN AMBASSADOR
From 2013 to 2017, she served as the Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs in the United States Department of State's Bureau of African Affairs.
The former American diplomat went on to become a senior vice president of the business strategy firm Albright Stonebridge Group.
MARCIA FUDGE, SECRETARY OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT
After Biden鈥檚 election win, progressives had wanted Biden to nominate her for Agriculture secretary but the U.S. president eventually picked her for housing secretary.
The long-standing Ohio representative is the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus during the late Obama years. Before that she worked in Ohio鈥檚 Cuyahoga County prosecutor's office as director of budget and finance.
CECILLIA ROUSE, CHAIR OF COUNCIL OF ECONOMIC ADVISORS
In this role, Rouse would oversee the publicly-available annual Economic Report of the President, which outlines the economic impact of activity that year.
Rouse is an economist and current dean of the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University.
