Cabinet Watch: Who Will Be Tapped To Lead HHS?

Politico: Meet The Contenders For Biden’s Cabinet
The Biden transition team has been vetting potential candidates for months and will present the president-elect with potential choices in the coming days. Biden is expected to focus first on posts involving public health and the economy, including the secretaries of the Treasury and Health and Human Services, along with West Wing personnel. The former vice president intends to be deliberative and is not likely to announce Cabinet nominations in the first week, according to an official close to the Biden team. The president-elect will face incoming on several fronts, including from Democrats who expect him to nominate the most diverse Cabinet in history. That goal is not always compatible with the push from the party's vocal left wing to nominate the most progressive Cabinet since Franklin D. Roosevelt. (11/7)

USA Today: Biden Cabinet Picks: Who May Be Tapped For Leadership Roles
Here are some of the choices Biden faces in filling his Cabinet: ... Health and Human Services: Ezekiel Emanuel, the white vice provost for global initiatives at the University of Pennsylvania who served as a health adviser to Biden's campaign. He was a special adviser for health policy in the White House Office of Management and Budget during the Obama administration; Vivek Murthy, a trustee of the Rand Corp. and health adviser to Biden's campaign. Murthy, whose parents are from India, was surgeon general during the Obama administration; New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, whom Biden considered as vice president, is the first Latina Democrat to the post, previously was a state Cabinet secretary for the Department of Aging and Long-term Services from 2002 to 2004 and the Department of Health from 2004 to 2007. (Jansen, 11/8)

WCNC.com: Dr. Mandy Cohen In The Running To Lead Biden Administration's Department Of Health And Human Services, POLITICO Reports
Dr. Mandy Cohen, current Secretary of the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services, is among the top contenders to lead the incoming Biden administration's U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, according to new reporting from POLITICO. The New York native has experience in medicine, advocacy, and government - and also became a household name in North Carolina for her work during the COVID-19 pandemic (a man in Burlington even wrote her a tribute song). (Smart, 11/8)

AP: Biden Seeks To Move Quickly And Build Out His Administration
Biden senior adviser Ted Kaufman said the transition team will focus on the “nuts and bolts” of building the new administration in coming days. Biden may not make top Cabinet choices for weeks. But he built his presidential run around bipartisanship and he has spent the days since Tuesday’s election pledging to be a president for all Americans. That suggests he could be willing to appoint some Republicans to high-profile administration positions. Many former Republican officeholders broke with Trump to endorse Biden’s campaign. Biden’s selection of some of them to join the new government could appease Senate Republicans, who may have to confirm many of Biden’s choices for top jobs. The GOP could retain control of the chamber after two special elections in Georgia on Jan. 5. (Weissert, Jaffe and Madhani, 11/8)

Politico: Californians Eye Biden Jobs After Years Of Trump Attacks
California is about to come in from the cold. After almost four years of President Donald Trump's taunts as a state that's "going to hell,'' California is poised to be powerhouse with a Biden administration. ... California is home to some of the nation's leading universities and the globe's most-recognized tech firms, and the stars of its biotech, alternative energy and environmental policy scenes had clout in Democratic administrations under Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. (Marinucci, 11/8)