At the intersection of business and policy
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Biden Administration

The Biden Administration

[Last updated January 5, 2024]

The Cabinet

[Require Senate confirmation; nominees still needing confirmation indicated by an asterisk (*)]

Attorney General: Merrick Garland

— Former Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit

Secretary of Agriculture: tom vilsack

– Former governor of Iowa and former secretary of agriculture

Secretary of Commerce: Gina Raimondo

— Former governor of Rhode Island

Secretary of Defense: Lloyd austin

– Retired four-star Army general and former commander of United States Central Command

Secretary of Education: miguel cardona

— Former Connecticut state commissioner of education

Secretary of Energy: Jennifer Granholm

– Former governor of Michigan

Secretary of Health and Human Services: xavier becerra

– Former California state attorney general and member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California

Secretary of Homeland Security: Alejandro Mayorkas

– Former deputy secretary of homeland security

Secretary of Housing and Urban Development: marcia fudge

– Former member of the U.S. House of Representative from Ohio

Secretary of Interior: deb haaland

— Former member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New Mexico

Acting Secretary of Labor: Julie Su

— Former deputy secretary of labor and secretary of California Labor and Workforce Development Agency

Secretary of State: Antony BLINKEn

– Former deputy secretary of state and deputy national security adviser to President Obama

Secretary of Transportation: Pete buttigieg

– Former mayor of South Bend, Indiana

Secretary of Treasury: Janet yellen

– Former chair of the Federal Reserve Board

Secretary of Veterans Affairs: Denis mcdonough

– Former White House chief of staff to President Obama

Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency: michael s. Regan

– Former secretary of the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality

Administrator, Small Business Administration: Isabel Guzman

— Former director, California Office of the Small Business Advocate

Director, Central Intelligence Agency: William J. Burns

— Former president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and deputy secretary of state

Director of National Intelligence: avril haynes

– Former deputy director of the Central Intelligence Agency

Director, office of management and budget: Shalanda Young

– Former deputy OMB director and staff director of the House Appropriations Committee

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations: Linda thomas-greenfield

– Former assistant secretary of state for African affairs

U.S. Trade Representative: katerine tai

– Former chief trade counsel to the House Ways and Means Committee


Other Key Biden Administration Officials

[Require Senate confirmation; nominees still needing confirmation indicated by an asterisk (*)]

Chair, president’s council of economic advisors: Jared Bernstein

– Former chief economist to then-Vice President Joe Biden and fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

Chair, Securities and Exchange Commission: Gary Gensler

— Former chair, Commodity Futures Trading Commission

Chair, Council on Environmental Quality: Brenda Mallory

— Regulatory policy director, Southern Environmental Law Center

Administrator, U.S. Agency for International Development: Samantha Powers

— Former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations

Administrator, National Aeronautics and Space Administration: Bill Nelson

— Former U.S. senator from Florida

Surgeon GEneral: vivek murthy

– Former surgeon general and vice admiral in the Public Health Service

Deputy Secretary of State (NOMINEE): Kurt Campbell

— Former National Security Council Indo-Pacific region coordinator and assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs

Deputy Secretary of Defense: Kathleen Hicks

— Former deputy under secretary of defense for strategy, plans, and forces

Deputy Secretary of Treasury: Wally Adeyamo

— Former president of the Obama Foundation and deputy director of the National Economic Council in the Obama administration

Deputy Secretary of Energy: David Turk

— Former deputy executive director of the International Energy Agency

Deputy Secretary of Transportation: Polly Trottenberg

— Former commissioner of the New York City Department of Transportation

Deputy Secretary of Commerce: Don Graves

— Former executive vice president of KeyBank

Deputy Secretary of Interior: Vacant

— No nominee as of January 2024

Deputy Attorney General: Lisa Monaco

— Former assistant attorney general in the Obama administration

Associate Attorney General: Vanita Gupta

— Former president and chief executive officer, Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights

Deputy Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency: Janet McCabe

— Former professor at Indiana University and senior EPA official in the Obama administration

U.S. Ambassador to Canada: David Cohen

— Former senior executive at Comcast

U.S. Ambassador to China: R. Nicholas Burns

— Career diplomat and under secretary of state for political affairs in the George W. Bush administration

U.S. Ambassador to Israel: Jacob Lew

— Former secretary of treasury and director of the Office of Management and Budget in the Obama administration

U.S. Ambassador to Japan: Rahm Emanuel

— Former mayor of Chicago and White House chief of staff to President Obama

U.S. Ambassador to Mexico: Ken Salazar

— Former secretary of interior in the Obama administration and U.S. senator from Colorado

U.S. Ambassador to New Zealand: Tom Udall

— Former U.S. senator from New Mexico

U.S. Ambassador to Russia: Lynne Tracy

— Career Foreign Service officer and former ambassador to Armenia

U.S. Ambassador to Turkey: Jeff Flake

— Former U.S. senator from Arizona


White House Staff

[do not require Senate confirmation]

White house chief of staff: Jeff Zients

– Former White House coronavirus response coordinator and, during the Obama administration, director of the National Economic Council

Deputy White House Chief of Staff: Jen O’Malley Dillon

— Campaign manager, Biden-Harris campaign

Deputy White House Chief of Staff: Bruce Reed

— Former chief of staff to then-Vice President Biden and chief domestic policy adviser to President Clinton

Counselor to the President: Steve Richetti

— Former chief of staff to then-Vice President Biden and chairman of Biden’s 2020 campaign

Senior Adviser to the President: Mike Donilon

— Former counselor to then-Vice President Biden

Senior Adviser to the President: Anita Dunn

— Former managing director of communications firm SKDK and Democratic campaign manager

Senior Adviser to the President for CLean Energy: John Podesta

— Former White House chief of staff to President Clinton and counselor to President Obama

Chief of staff to the Vice President: Lorraine Voles

— Director of communications for then-Vice President Gore and then-Senator Hillary Clinton

White House press secretary: Karine Jean-Pierre

– Former deputy press secretary and chief of staff to the 2020 campaign of Vice President Harris

National Security advisor: jake sullivan

– Former deputy national security advisor to President Obama

Principal Deputy National Security Adviser: Jonathan Finer

— Former State Department director of policy planning in the Obama administration

Director, National Economic council: Lael Brainard

– Former vice chair of the Federal Reserve

director, domestic policy council: Neera Tanden

– Former president of the Center for American Progress

Director, Office of Science and Technology Policy : Arati Prabhakar

– Former director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and head of the National Institute of Standards and Technology

White House special envoy for climate change: John kerry

– Former secretary of state and member of the U.S. Senate from Massachusetts

White House National Climate Change Adviser: Ali Zaidi

— Former deputy secretary for energy and environment of the state of New York