Biden selects Susan Rice to lead Domestic Policy Council, McDonough for Veterans Affairs
President-elect Joe Biden has selected Susan Rice, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, to lead the White House Domestic Policy Council, and is nominating Denis McDonough as secretary of Veterans Affairs, the transition announced on Thursday.
“The roles they will take on are where the rubber meets the road — where competent and crisis-tested governance can make a meaningful difference in people’s lives, enhancing the dignity, equity, security, and prosperity of the day-to-day lives of Americans,” Biden said in the statement.
Rice also previously served as national security adviser during the Obama administration, and will now direct the Domestic Policy Council, a unit with broad purview over Biden’s domestic agenda, including health, immigration and education policy. The role does not require Senate confirmation.
McDonough, who served as deputy national security adviser and later White House chief of staff under former President Obama, will need to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate in order to lead the sprawling Department of Veterans Affairs, an agency that has for years attracted public scrutiny as a result of management issues.
McDonough received swift praise from Democrats. Sen. Jack Reed (R.I.), the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, called McDonough an “outstanding pick to lead the VA.”
“Denis is a principled, professional patriot and a great supporter of veterans. A former White House Chief of Staff, he is a distinguished public servant who brings the experience, skill, and leadership to be effective in this new post,” Reed said in a statement.
Biden also officially announced other appointments and nominations, including Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio) as his nominee for secretary of Housing and Urban Development; Katherine Tai, a trade lawyer for the House Ways and Means Committee, as his nominee for U.S. trade representative; and Tom Vilsack as his nominee to serve as secretary of Agriculture, a role that Vilsack will reprise from his time serving in the Obama administration.
The announcements of Rice and McDonough in particular underscore the degree to which Biden is leaning on officials with deep experience who worked with one another during the Obama administration.
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/529623-biden-selects-susan-rice-to-lead-domestic-policy-council