32
USA TODAY SPECIAL EDITION
The Inauguration of the 46th President
Homeland Security: Alejandro Mayorkas and his family came to the United States in 1960 as refugees from Cuba. CAROLYN KASTER/AP
Treasury: Janet Yellen was the fi rst woman to head the Federal Reserve, doing so from 2014 to 2018. BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
Defense: Lloyd Austin headed U.S. Central Command before retiring as a four-star Army general in 2016. CHIP SOMODEVILLA/GETTY IMAGES
Diverse slate assembled for Cabinet Preliminary roster of top offi cials in the Biden administration include a number of nominees who would be making history Bart Jansen, William Cummings and Savannah Behrmann USA TODAY
President-elect Joe Biden campaigned with a pledge to have a government as diverse as America. After 36 years in the Senate and eight years as vice president, Biden now has an opportunity to tap a broad range of government offi cials and policy experts to lead federal departments. His selections so far refl ect that commitment. Alejandro Mayorkas, a Cuban American, would be the fi rst Latino head of the Department of Homeland Security. Janet Yellen would be the fi rst woman to serve as Treasury secretary. Avril Haines would be the fi rst female director of national intelligence. Pete Buttigieg, his pick for Transportation, would be the fi rst openly gay Cabinet
Secretary to be confi rmed by the Senate. Deb Haaland at the Interior Department would be the fi rst Native American in the Cabinet. And Merrick Garland, who was denied a Senate hearing by Republicans in 2016 when he was nominated for the Supreme Court, will get one this year to be attorney general. Here is a look at who Biden has picked for Cabinet and senior White House staff jobs. Cabinet nominees must be confi rmed by the Senate.
State: Antony Blinken Antony Blinken, 58, held top-level national security and State Department positions during the Obama administration — including as national security adviser to Biden when he was vice president. He worked side-by-side with Biden on for-
eign policy issues as a Senate staff er and administration offi cial for nearly two decades. Biden has called Blinken a “superstar” and once said he could do “any job.” By choosing Blinken for one of the most coveted jobs in the Cabinet, Biden is aiming to install an alter-ego at the helm of the State Department and signaling that he will make foreign policy a priority of his presidency.
Defense: Lloyd Austin Retired Army general Lloyd Austin, 67, would be the fi rst Black secretary of Defense. He was the Army’s vice chief of staff and also led U.S. Central Command, which oversees military operations in such places as Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan. Austin prefers to work behind the scenes, building by consensus and leading by example. The military has struggled to diversify its senior military ranks. Austin is one of a relatively few Black Army offi cers to have held senior commands in combat units, which is the principal route to the
