cabinet Flashcards
VP and tie breaking
Kamala Harris has already had 26 tie-breaking votes in
two years! This includes the Inflation Reduction Act 2022
how are cabinet members selected
In the UK the prime minister can only appoint
members of parliament (Commons or Lords)
In the US, the president can appoint any US citizen, as long as they are not part of the other 2 branches, which means he can appoint outside experts, often from outside politics.
If they are members of Congress, they have to give
up their seat in Congress
second stage of cabinet selection
The Senate holds hearings and confirms or rejects the
cabinet member
Example
Betsy DeVos, a campaigner for school choice and the
wife of a billionaire, big Republican donor.
Trump nominated her as Education Secretary after
winning the election in 2016.
The Senate Education Committee held hearings with
her in January 2017; Democrats were critical of her
views, lack of experience, and donations.
Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski (R) voted with the
Democrats 🡪 50 – 50 vote. Mike Pence cast deciding vote 🡪 DeVos appointed
Neera Tanden was nominated as leader of the Office of Management and Budget by president Biden
It appeared she had used aggressive tweets to criticise Republicans in the past. That was reason for Joe Manchin to announce he would vote against her nomination, and no Republicans likely to support her instead. She withdrew her nomination
There are 3 arguments for their importance
Experience and policy specialism
Defend the president’s policies
Reward campaign donors and supporters
Experience and policy specialism
Lloyd Austin, Biden’s Defense Secretary is a former four star general and Commanding General of the US military in Iraq
Merrick Garland, Biden’s Attorney General, is a experienced
federal judge and Supreme Court nominee
Obama’s first Secretary of Energy, Steven Chu, was a Nobel
Prize winner in Physics and university professor specialising in renewable energy research
Defend the president’s policies
Defend policy in committee hearings, in the media
Attorney General William Barr defended the government’s decision to only publish a redacted version of the Mueller report into potential collusion with Russian hacking at the 2016 elections
Reward campaign donors and supporters
Cabinet and other executive appointments are an opportunity to reward campaign supporters
Betsy DeVos is a billionaire and major donor to both the Republican Party and the Trump campaign, and became Trump’s education secretary.
There are more convincing arguments against their
importance
Presidential executive: Constitution gives President all executive power
Lack of political experience, lack of knowledge on other topics
Rivalry with EXOP
Presidential executive: Constitution gives President all executive power
“Executive power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America”
He is not ‘first among equals’, just ‘first’
The fact that there are so few cabinet meetings (3 or 4 a year under Obama) indicates decisions are not jointly made
Trump only held 2 to 3 cabinet meetings per year, mostly aimed at the press.
Biden has held 4 cabinet meetings in his first year in office
rivalry with exop
The Executive Office of the President – the staff that help and advise the president
They are influential and rival the cabinet for importance
