Joe Biden will later today be sworn in as the President of the United States. To show everyone that he is ready to hit the ground running, he has made public the names of his cabinet members (nominees).
These are: Ron Klain, Chief of Staff. He played the same role to Joe Biden when he was vice-president. Klain was also the Obama administration’s Ebola-response coordinator during the outbreak in 2014 and 201. The CIA Director is William Burns; Janet Yellen, Treasury Secretary; Attorney General, Merrick Garland, Lyode Austin, Secretary of Defence; Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken; Michael S. Regan, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator; Johns Kerry, Presidential Envoy for Climate Change; Gina McCarthy, White House climate Czar.
Others are Deb Haaland, Secretary of the Interior; Marty Walsh, Labour Secretary; Commerce, Gina Rainmodo; Alejandro Mayorkas, Homeland Security; Denis McDonough; Pete Buttigieg, Transportation; Jennifer Granholm; Energy, Linda Thomas Grandholm, Ambassador to the United Nations; Jake Sullivan, National Security Adviser; Neera Tanden, Office of management and Budget Director; White House Press Secretary; Brian Desse, Top White House Economic Adviser; Katherine Tai, US Trade Representative and Vivek Murthy, Surgeon General.
There are also Xavier Becerra, Health and Human Services Secretary; Rachel Levine, Assistant Health and Human Services Secretary; Susan Rise, White House Domestic Policy Council Director; Tom Vilsack, Secretary of Agriculture; Marcia Fudge; Housing and Urban; Miguel Cardona, Education. The list is long.
Also among his nominees are three Nigerian-Americans: Funmi Olorunnipa Badejo, Associate Counsel to Biden; Adewale Adeyemo, Deputy Treasury Secretary and Osaremen Okolo. She was appointed as COVID Policy Advisor and a member of the COVID-19 Response Team.
Here is a look at Wednesday’s schedule, according to CNN:
- 8:45 a.m. ET: Biden, Harris and their spouses attend a church service at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle.
- Noon: Biden and Harris are sworn in.
- 2:25 p.m. ET: Biden and Harris visit the Tomb of the Unknown Solider at the Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.
- 5:15 p.m. ET: Biden signs executive orders and other presidential actions.
- 5:45 p.m. ET: Biden swears in presidential appointees in a virtual ceremony.
- 8:48 p.m. ET: Biden and Harris deliver remarks at the “Celebrating America” inaugural program.
One of the first things he will do, as CNN put it is that he will make the coronavirus pandemic his first priority as president, “and he’s taking a calculated and symbolic action straight off.”
“This executive action will direct the agencies to take action to require compliance with CDC guidance on mask wearing and physical distancing in federal buildings, on federal lands, and by federal employees and contractors,” Biden’s counselor and Covid-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients told reporters.
“And the President will call on governors, public health officials, mayors, business leaders and others to implement masking, physical distancing and other public measures to control Covid-19,” Zients added.
“This is not a political statement. This is about the health of our families, and economic recovery of our country.”
