It's time to start working on Hillary's Cabinet, I guess

[Foolmewunz]

She's got some political debts to pay, but the big ones can't be considered for cabinet posts (B. Obama, M. Obama, B. Clinton).

Hillary has a couple of advantages over Trump in this regard:
1. She's going to win and he's not. Duh!
2. She is with the party in power and there is a Cabinet in place.
2.A. She can offer popular Secretaries to remain in their posts. (Say, Kerry.)
2.B. In the parliamentary tradition, she can shift portfolios moving people up and down the pecking order without completely dumping them, and those who know they're on the out can resign.

Now, assuming that just for the enjoyment of the forum, Sid Blumenthal has to be in there somewhere (Secretary of Alt-Right Outreach?), who will Hillary be putting in her cabinet?

 

[MikeG]

What does she do with Bernie?

 

[Tony Stark]

She should make James Comey the Attorney General just to **** with the Republicans.

 

[Tony Stark]

What does she do with Bernie?

Let him stay in the Senate. If you ask me, the only Cabinet positions that are worth giving up a Senate seat for are the top level ones like State or Defense and she definitely won't give him one of those. Maybe she would let him be Secretary of Labor or Secretary of Health and Human Services, but I doubt he would want it.

 

[Foolmewunz]

A list I cribbed from somewhere. Obama's cabinet/appointees, at present


Secretary of State John Kerry 2013-present
Secretary of Treasury Jack Lew 2013–present
Secretary of Defense Ash Carter 2015–present
Attorney General Loretta Lynch 2015–present
Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell 2013–present
Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack 2009–present
Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker 2013–present
Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez 2013–present
Secretary of Health and
Human Services Sylvia Burwell 2014–present
Secretary of Education John King 2016–present
Secretary of Housing and
Urban Development Julian Castro 2014–present
Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx 2013–present
Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz 2013–present
Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert McDonald 2014–present
Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson 2013–present
Chief of Staff Denis McDonough 2013–present
Administrator of the
Environmental Protection Agency Lisa Jackson Gina McCarthy 2013–present
Director of the Office of
Management and Budget Peter Orszag Shaun Donovan 2014–present
Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power 2013–present
United States Trade Representative Michael Froman 2013–present

 

[The Great Zaganza]

In order to allow him to save face, she will offer Trump to become Secretary of the Posterior.

 

[Foolmewunz]

In order to allow him to save face, she will offer Trump to become Secretary of the Posterior.

Secretary of Halloween. He's got the color down pat. He's got the "scares little children" thing going, too.

 

[Jrrarglblarg]

What does she do with Bernie?

Lets him eat his kibble in the Oval Office and doesn't kick him off the couch. Makes the secret service walk him two or three times a day.

 

[Shiner]

What does she do with Bernie?

I think she'll put him in the cabinet where he can't bite her.

 

[Cleon]

What does she do with Bernie?

Nothing. He's served his purpose as sheepdog, and will quickly be sidelined.

 

[NoahFence]

What does she do with Bernie?

Ask him what he wants, and see if they can make it happen.

 

[varwoche]

Now, assuming that just for the enjoyment of the forum, Sid Blumenthal has to be in there somewhere (Secretary of Alt-Right Outreach?), who will Hillary be putting in her cabinet?

Not quite. Undersecretary of the Federal Dog Catcher Department, specializing in highly confused animals that refer to themselves in the third canine.

 

[Trebuchet]

Let him stay in the Senate. If you ask me, the only Cabinet positions that are worth giving up a Senate seat for are the top level ones like State or Defense and she definitely won't give him one of those. Maybe she would let him be Secretary of Labor or Secretary of Health and Human Services, but I doubt he would want it.

Quoted for emphasis. One of Obama's biggest mistakes, I think, of was stripping the Senate of senior democrats for his cabinet. Starting with Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton.

His biggest single mistake, of course, was going for health care too early in his first term. That handed the 2010 midterm, and with it the power of redistricting for the next ten years, to the Republicans. Bill Clinton of course made the same mistake in 1992, but 1994 wasn't a census year.

 

[dudalb]

I will predict one thing;Clinton's Sec. of Interior will be from a Western State. That is standard for both parties.

 

[Foolmewunz]

I really have no idea how she'll handle it. I'm going to guess that she'll leave some key portfolios in place, maybe shift them out in her first or second year. Kerry's 72 so he's got no other public office to run for, but Massachusetts might elect him governor in '18, regardless of his age.

Several of the current Secretaries are staunch allies. There may be no major shifts, at all.

 

[The Big Dog]

where is she gonna put the Board of Goldman Sachs?

 

[Foolmewunz]

where is she gonna put the Board of Goldman Sachs?

Leave 'em where they are.... running the Department of Commerce, Treasury and The Fed.

 

[The Fallen Serpent]

I agree and hope Clinton does not tap the Senate to fill positions in her administration. The Democratic Party will have some vulnerable seats in 2018 and midterm years tend to have low turnout and favor the party out of power. With her experience and knowledge of the party I suspect she can pull in plenty of experienced political insiders appropriate for the role without having to tap elected politicians. Continuing the current Obama administration is not a bad start either.

 

[Foolmewunz]

I agree and hope Clinton does not tap the Senate to fill positions in her administration. The Democratic Party will have some vulnerable seats in 2018 and midterm years tend to have low turnout and favor the party out of power. With her experience and knowledge of the party I suspect she can pull in plenty of experienced political insiders appropriate for the role without having to tap elected politicians. Continuing the current Obama administration is not a bad start either.

Well, there's "tapping" the Senate and then there's "draining" it. You can take a page from the RNC in their pushing of the nomination of Pence for VP. You get him out of a race he might lose. If the Dems have any re-districted Congress critters to protect they can move them into a cabinet position. Then again, they can also do a domino thing and move up a Senator in a state where they have a Governor to appoint a new one, or a solid majority that will elect a rising star.

They can also offer positions to RINOs. It makes a good impression under the guise of being bipartisan and you can remove present or future obstacles. Susanna Martinez for the win! The Dems can win the governor's office in NM. Or to get rid of rising stars... say Mia Love, although she's been laying low this year.

 

[The Fallen Serpent]

That is a good point. Safe Senate states or ones with appointment by a Democratic governor shouldn't be out of the question. I wouldn't be amiss to seeing Wyden step up. That probably shows my Oregon native bias.

Getting RINOs into positions is a good gesture, but I think we need to see the Republican response to her first. I think Obama's early olive branches might have emboldened Republicans in their attempts to completely shut him down. To the current Republican party, that sort of bipartisanship gives the appearance of weakness instead of good faith compromise.