“Joe Biden is considering Samantha Power to head the United States Agency for International Development, which would place a high-profile figure atop foreign aid and coronavirus relief efforts,” Axios reports.
“Installing Power — a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and author of a Pulitzer Prize-winning book about genocide — would signal the Biden administration plans to revitalize foreign assistance and use it as an instrument of soft power and to achieve humanitarian goals.”
“Pete Buttigieg is emerging as a leading contender to be Joe Biden’s Transportation secretary,” CNN reports.
“The possible nomination would vault the 2020 Democratic presidential candidate into the federal government, getting the former South Bend, Indiana, mayor what many Democrats see as needed experience should he want to run for president again.”
President-elect Joe Biden offered Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms a position in his Cabinet, but she did not accept it, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports.
From a statement: “Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms was honored to have been offered a role in the Cabinet, which she respectfully declined.”
“On Friday, there was wide speculation on social media based on a tweet from a reporter from another media outlet that Bottoms had been offered the opportunity to be the ambassador to the Bahamas, but turned it down… Several prominent Georgia Democrats have reported that Bottoms was in the running to lead the Small Business Administration, a Cabinet level post.”
“A subpoena seeking documents from Hunter Biden asked for information related to more than two dozen entities, including Ukraine gas company Burisma, according to a person familiar with a Justice Department tax investigation of President-elect Joe Biden’s son.” the AP reports.
“The breadth of the subpoena, issued Tuesday, underscores the wide-angle lens prosecutors are taking as they examine the younger Biden’s finances and international business ventures.”
President-elect Joe Biden’s search for the next attorney general is increasingly focused on Sen. Doug Jones (D-AL) and former deputy attorney general Sally Q. Yates, the Washington Post reports.
“Joe Biden’s Justice Department-to-be has a Hunter Biden problem. The ongoing federal investigation into the president-elect’s son is already fueling debate among DOJ veterans about extraordinary steps Joe Biden’s yet-to-be-named attorney general may have to take to insulate the department from the appearance of political bias,” Politico reports.
“In addition to the Hunter investigation, Joe Biden’s attorney general will confront tricky questions about how to handle lingering probes of President Donald Trump and his associates, as well as navigate the landmines left by the outgoing administration — including a special counsel probe into the origins of the Trump-Russia investigation.”
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) is one of several contenders under consideration by President-elect Joe Biden for the role of attorney general, the AP reports.
“The other three contenders at the moment include former Alabama Sen. Doug Jones, federal appeals court judge Merrick Garland and former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates, said the person, who cautioned that no decision had been reached and no announcement was expected imminently.”
“Hunter Biden’s former business partner sent him an email in 2017 saying he did not disclose on his tax returns $400,000 in income from the Ukrainian natural gas company where he sat on the board,” according to a copy of the email obtained by NBC News.
“The message from Eric Schwerin, then president of Rosemont Seneca Partners, says Hunter Biden would need to ‘amend’ his 2014 returns to reflect the ‘unreported’ income, according to the copy of the email.”
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms (D) was offered — and declined — the Ambassadorship to the Bahamas, the New Yorker reports.
The hashtag #trumpconceded is now trending on Twitter, after President Trump tweeted about “the Biden Administration” earlier this morning.
It’s not a proper concession, but it’s getting closer.
“Unless President Trump’s Justice Department clears Hunter Biden of wrongdoing before leaving office, the new president will confront the prospect of his own newly installed administration deciding how or whether to proceed with an inquiry that could expose his son to criminal prosecution,” the New York Times reports.
“Already some Republicans are demanding a special counsel be appointed to insulate the case from political influence.”
“Lloyd Austin will begin courtesy calls with Congress next week, but his nomination to be Defense secretary may not even make it out of committee unless Republicans help grant the waiver he needs to hold the job,” Axios reports.
“While civil rights groups are hailing Austin’s nomination to be the first Black Defense secretary, some Democrats on the Senate Armed Services Committee have already said they oppose the waiver, leaving it up to Republicans to rescue him — and some predict the vote will fail in committee.”
“President-elect Joe Biden has tapped Obama’s former national security adviser Susan Rice to run the White House Domestic Policy Council,” Politico reports.
“The director of the Domestic Policy Council is not a Senate-confirmed position. The Biden team had been looking to find a high-profile role for Rice, but the top domestic policy job comes as a surprise given her expertise and experience in foreign policy.”
Associated Press: “Though the council was created with the intention of being on par with the White House National Security Council, it traditionally has had a lower public profile, including for its directors. Rice is expected to be more of a force, both inside and outside the White House, and her appointment creates a new power center in the West Wing.”
President-elect Joe Biden will nominate longtime Obama aide Denis McDonough for secretary of Veterans Affairs, Politico reports.
“President-elect Joe Biden’s top advisers have asked at least one outside advocacy group for input about Sen. Doug Jones as a potential attorney general, one indication that his team is giving serious consideration to the Alabama Democrat as the nation’s top law enforcement official,” the Washington Post reports.
“Biden is not expected to make a decision this week, prolonging the debate both inside and outside his transition team over what will be one of the highest-profile roles in his administration. It has sent the wider legal and political worlds into a frenzy, with Biden’s close-knit advisers keeping a tight lid on their decision-making process amid widespread interest over who will lead a consequential department whose morale has plummeted under an assault from President Trump.”
The federal investigation into President-elect Joe Biden’s son Hunter has been more extensive than a statement from Hunter Biden indicates, Politico reports.
“In addition to Delaware, the securities fraud unit in the Southern District of New York also scrutinized Hunter Biden’s finances, according to the person with direct knowledge of the investigation. The person said that, as of early last year, investigators in Delaware and Washington were also probing potential money laundering and Hunter Biden’s foreign ties.”
“In addition to the probe into Hunter Biden, federal authorities in the Western District of Pennsylvania are conducting a criminal investigation of a hospital business in which Joe Biden’s brother James was involved. Federal officials have asked questions about James Biden’s role in the business.”
New York Times: “The tax issues came to the attention of F.B.I. agents after they opened the money laundering investigation into Hunter Biden’s financial affairs in late 2018, under the attorney general at the time, Jeff Sessions.”
Politico: “Because the coronavirus can linger on surfaces for multiple days, a team deployed by the General Services Administration will go over every part of the White House’s East and West Wings touched by human hands in the hours after Trump departs and Biden moves in.”
“That includes plans to ‘thoroughly clean and disinfect’ all furniture, doorknobs, handrails and light switches, before Biden and his team move in. Additionally, a private contractor will provide “disinfectant misting services” to clear the air of lingering droplets.”
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.