Report: Kamala Harris Wants to Keep Some of Biden’s Cabinet Members, Appoint Female Defense Secretary

Vice President Kamala Harris is considering keeping on some of President Joe Biden’s cabinet members if she wins the election as the prospect of a Republican-controlled Senate causes concern that she would not be able to get all of her picks confirmed, inside sources told NBC News.

With recent polls showing the GOP favored to win control of the Senate, Harris is weighing current cabinet members to see who she can keep on and what new faces she can try to get confirmed, people familiar with the matter told the outlet.

While Harris’s transition team, led by Biden’s 2020 transition team chief Yohannes Abraham, has not yet formally asked any cabinet members or ambassadors to remain in their roles after Biden leaves office, they have reportedly been identifying those who might be willing to. 

Historically, the Senate has shown “deference” to incoming White House administrations by letting them appoint their cabinets without much pushback, but “creeping polarization in Washington has eroded bipartisan norms,” NBC’s Peter Nicholas, Carol E. Lee, and Mike Memoli wrote. 

Sources told the outlet that Harris is looking at bringing on new national security officials, however, as some of them do not need to be confirmed by the Senate. 

She also wants to appoint the first woman to run the Pentagon, insiders said. 

Naming a female secretary of defense “sends a very powerful message that will help other women break through all those glass ceilings,” said Rosa Brooks, a former advisor in the Pentagon under Obama administration official Michèle Flournoy. Flournoy is reportedly on the shortlist of Harris’s potential picks. 

Harris is also reportedly considering appointing some officials who have already been Senate-confirmed to different positions on an “acting basis,” NBC reported. According to the outlet, federal law permits this.

When asked for remarks on the reports, a Harris transition team official told the publication, “The lean transition team will not be making any personnel decisions pre-election.”

“There is no transition without a successful campaign,” the statement continued. “The focus right now is on the Harris-Walz campaign. As envisioned by the Presidential Transition Act, the vice president’s transition team is laying the groundwork to be able to support the vice president and her senior staff after election day.”