If she wins in November, Vice President Kamala Harris may face a hostile, Republican-controlled Senate in no mood to confirm the senior Cabinet officials she’ll need to run her administration.
Anticipating that scenario, Harris’ team is exploring whether to keep in place some of the Biden administration officials who’ve already been confirmed by the Senate and wouldn’t need to face the gauntlet again, four people familiar with her transition planning said.
Her aides are also looking at the option of initially retaining some current officials so that she’d have more time to make staffing decisions. With only a few months to build a campaign after abruptly replacing President Joe Biden at the top of the ticket, Harris has had little time to focus on the makeup of a new administration, the people familiar with the planning said.
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That seems like a failing strategy, cabinet members are likely already looking for their next job.
This is if dems lose the senate control. New cabinet members have to be approved by the senate
So by keeping old cabinet members, you avoid having to go through the senate again and being blocked by republicans
Cabinet members are looking before the election though. They are out of a job if trump wins. They are out of a job if Harris wins + the Senate. They may not be out of a job if Harris wins and the Senate goes Republican. That’s not good odds to stick around for.
There is quite a bit of time between election and inauguration. Election is early November, inauguration is in early January
Even if dems win the senate it doesn’t mean they’ll necessarily replace 100% of everyone either. Just opens the options to replace some people. I’m sure the cabinet members would be informed of how likely they are to keep their job
They also aren’t getting regular jobs, there can be narrow windows to join or take months to find something. If you know in 6 months it’s likely you won’t have a job it’s time to start hunting for a new one. It’s likely at least one cabinet member leaves before the election.