'Business as usual': Biden's cabinet picks signal return to Obama-era foreign policy
Each of the president-elect's top nominations announced on Monday has deep ties to the Obama administration, bursting progressive hopes for fresh ideas
The 43-year-old has been an advocate for returning to the nuclear accord and is expected to lead the US in rejoining scores of international treaties and organisations withdrawn by the Trump administration.
"All of that is important. But other than that, it is going to be pretty much business as usual, meaning huge defense spending, a heavy US footprint in the world, and this outdated notion that the US should be at the head of the table, providing global leadership," Benjamin said.
During the Trump presidency, Sullivan co-founded National Security Action, a policy advocacy group mostly comprised of ex-Obama administration staffers.
He also joined the London and New York–based Macro Advisory Partners, a secretive "strategic advisory and macro analytics firm" run by former British spy chiefs. Earlier this year, he spent several months representing Uber against labour unions.
"President-elect Biden taught me what it takes to safeguard our national security at the highest levels of our government," Sullivan wrote on Twitter following Monday's announcement. "Now, he has asked me to serve as his National Security Advisor. In service, I will do everything in my power to keep our country safe."
His position is appointed by the President and does not require Senate confirmation.
Crafting contentious drone policy
Meanwhile, Avril Haines, Biden's pick for director of national intelligence, also succeeded Blinken in one of his past administration posts, taking over as Obama's deputy national security adviser and serving in several other positions under the administration.
Her position will be subject to confirmation by the Senate, which may be under Republican control after the inauguration on 20 January, depending on the outcome of two contests in Georgia.
Between 2007 and 2008, Haines was deputy chief counsel to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, during which time Biden was chairman.
One of the more controversial Biden picks, she has taken heat due to her work creating the legal justification for Obama's drone wars and for her vocal support for Gina Haspel, an architect of President George W Bush's torture programme, as Trump's CIA director.
"Gina Haspel is intelligent, compassionate, and fair. Moreover, Gina has an unparalleled understanding of the institution, the Agency’s work, and she will support the workforce - all attributes the Agency needs from its Director," Haines said of Haspel's nomination in March 2018.
At the time, leading human rights groups spoke out fervently against Haspel's nomination.
She has also been criticised for her work on the redactions within the Senate torture report, which helped to ensure that the CIA personnel who spied on the Senate faced no accountability.
Haines is also a member of the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), a think tank that has received millions of dollars in funding from weapons contractors, according to the Center for International Policy, and was a consultant for the controversial data-mining firm Palantir.
If appointed, she will be the highest-ranking woman to ever serve in the intelligence community.
'Progressive views need to be expressed'
While progressives offer criticism, establishment Democrats have generally expressed enthusiastic approval for Blinken, Sullivan and Haines, touting the picks as fairly conventional appointments with decades of relevant experience.
"Such an amazing group of national security picks. They are all individually brilliant and—just as importantly—will make a great team!," tweeted Colin Kahl, who was formerly deputy assistant to President Obama and national security adviser to Biden during his vice presidency.
"The world will sleep easier tonight. @ABlinken and Jake Sullivan are not just experienced, brilliant and strategic, they are wholly honorable. It’s a new day, folks. Thank you @JoeBiden," former Michigan governor Jennifer Granholm, a Democrat, tweeted.
Still, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders has reiterated his desire to serve as Biden's Labor secretary and has warned the president-elect not to freeze out progressives as he shapes his government.
"It seems to me pretty clear that progressive views need to be expressed within a Biden administration," Sanders said last week.
"It would be, for example, enormously insulting if Biden put together a 'team of rivals' - and there's some discussion that that's what he intends to do - which might include Republicans and conservative Democrats - but which ignored the progressive community. I think that would be very, very unfortunate."
DACA champion and UN envoy reap approval
Alejandro Mayorkas, Biden's pick to head the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), seems to be less controversial.
Mayorkas served as director of Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and deputy secretary of DHS under the Obama administration.
'As an immigrant and a creator of the DACA program, he's well suited to undo Trump's damage and build a more compassionate and common sense immigration agenda'
- Julian Castro, former HUD secretary
Known for creating DACA, an Obama-era programme granting young undocumented immigrants legal status in the US, as a Cuban American Mayorkas would be the first Latino and immigrant to serve in the DHS position.
Julian Castro, a progressive-leaning politician who served as secretary of housing and urban development under Obama and ran for presidency in the 2020 presidential primaries, applauded Mayorkas's nomination.
"Alejandro Mayorkas is a historic and experienced choice to lead an agency in desperate need of reform," Castro said.
"As an immigrant and a creator of the DACA program, he’s well suited to undo Trump’s damage and build a more compassionate and common-sense immigration agenda," he continued.
Mayorkas's nomination was also supported by UnidosUS, self-described as the US's largest Latino nonprofit advocacy organisation.
As US ambassador to the United Nations, Biden has chosen Linda Thomas-Greenfield, who served in the US foreign service for 35 years before recently retiring.
A longtime diplomat, she served as the assistant secretary for the Bureau of African Affairs between 2013 to 2017, as well as in several other state department positions under the Obama administration.
She was also US ambassador to Liberia and held diplomatic postings in Switzerland, Pakistan, Kenya, Gambia, Nigeria and Jamaica.
"I’ve had the privilege to build relationships with leaders around the world for the past thirty-five years. As U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, I’ll work to restore America’s standing in the world and renew relationships with our allies. Blessed for this opportunity," Thomas-Greenfield said after Monday's announcement.
"Greenfield is an excellent choice who will have the major task of restoring our reputation at the UN after anti-human rights villain @NikkiHaley destroyed it," tweeted Democratic political strategist Kaivan Shroff.
Obama's former secretary of state, John Kerry, has also been offered a position as special presidential envoy for climate.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/joe-biden-cabinet-signals-return-obama-era-foreign-policy
posted by Satish Sharma at
20:41
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