President-Elect Joe Biden selected Brenda Mallory to chair the Council on Environmental Quality. She would be the first Black American to hold the position since the Council’s creation in 1970.
Women in Biden-Harris Leadership
Gina McCarthy Named National Climate Adviser: “Defeating This Threat Is the Fight of our Lifetimes”
President-Elect Joe Biden selected former Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator Gina McCarthy as the first national climate adviser. In her new role, she will lead the new White House Office of Domestic Climate Policy, pulling from her experience under the Obama administration.
Rep. Deb Haaland Makes History as Interior Secretary Nominee: “I’ll Be Fierce for All of Us”
In his newest round of Cabinet nominations, President-Elect Joe Biden tapped Rep. Deb Haaland (D-N.M.) as the first Indigenous secretary of the interior. Haaland, who currently serves as vice chair of the House Committee on Natural Resources, would also be the first Native American to ever hold a secretary position in the Cabinet.
She spoke alongside fellow climate and energy appointees on Saturday, Dec. 19, promising to “be fierce for all of us, for our planet and all of our protective land.”
Rep. Marcia Fudge to Head Housing and Urban Development: “We Will Help People Believe Once Again”
In a recent series of nominations, Biden chose Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio) to join his Cabinet as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. She will be the second Black woman to hold the position, and first in the past 40 years.
Senate Unanimously Confirms Katherine Tai for U.S. Trade Rep
President-Elect Joe Biden appointed Katherine Tai to serve as United States Trade Representative (USTR) in his administration. Tai would be the first Asian American and first woman of color to serve in this capacity.
Biden Recruits Veteran Policy Adviser Susan Rice: “We All Rise or Fall Together”
President-Elect Joe Biden appointed Ambassador Susan Rice to serve as director of the Domestic Policy Council in his administration.
“In the 21st century, our foreign economic and domestic imperatives are deeply intertwined,” Rice said in her acceptance speec. “Tackling these challenges is personal to me. I am a descendant of immigrants and the enslaved, and service is in our blood.”
Dr. Rochelle Walensky Appointed CDC Director: “Leading With Science Is the Only Way To Deliver Breakthroughs”
“I never anticipated I would take on a role helping lead our national response, and government service was never part of my plan. But every doctor knows that when a patient is coding, your plans don’t matter. You answer the code. And when the nation is coding, if you are called to serve, you serve,” Dr. Rochelle Walensky said. Joe Biden tapped Walensky to head up the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as director.
Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith to Chair Equity Task Force: “It Is Our Societal Obligation to Ensure Equitable Access”
“I’m proud to go to work with leaders who are deeply committed to science and to centering equity in our response to this pandemic. And not as a secondary concern, not as a box to check, but as a shared value woven into all of the work that we do and prioritized by every member of the Biden-Harris team,” said Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith, chair of the Biden-Harris COVID-19 Equity Task Force, and co-chair of the COVID-19 Advisory Board.
Heather Boushey Joins Council of Economic Advisers: Barriers “Leave Too Many Americans Outside the Dream Looking In”
Heather Boushey took the stage on Tuesday, Dec. 1—alongside President and Vice President-Elects Joe Biden and Kamala Harris—as a newly appointed member of the Council of Economic Advisers (CEA). Boushey accepted her nomination with a reflective speech on what she learned as the daughter of a laid off union worker.
Cecilia Rouse on Track to be First Black Chair of Council of Economic Advisers: “The Safety Net Has Frayed”
President-Elect Joe Biden appointed Cecilia Rouse as next chair of the Council of Economic Advisers (CEA). In assuming Treasury Secretary-nominee Janet Yellen’s former title, she will be the first African American and fourth woman to fill the role since the Council was established 74 years ago.