Hillary Clinton and her staff were so sure that she was going to win the election in November that they had already assembled their shortlist of people for top government jobs, a report reveals.
Mike Allen, formerly of Politico and now with Axios, released a list showing how Team Clinton had begun allocating the patronage jobs that would come with their expected Nov. 8 election win.
As Allen notes, Clinton had “astonishingly specific, widely known/accepted roles planned for her administration.” Allen also explains that the list was compiled from “interviews with numerous Clinton insiders” and shows she had moved well beyond the metaphorical “measuring of the drapes” to a thought out organizational chart.
Allen’s list is so detailed that Clinton had even picked several foreign ambassadors and even daughter Chelsea’s “chief of staff.” it’s a veritable Who’s Who of Clinton donors and apparatchiks of Washington D.C.
In many cases, Clinton had several candidates already sussed out for each of the positions she would have needed to fill if she had become the 45th president of the United States. Looking at this list proves the U.S. dodged more than one bullet with her loss.
Some of the more astonishing picks were John Podesta for Secretary of State. It was his lax computer security measures that caused many “wikileaks” headaches for the team in the run-up to Nov. 8.
Another interesting part of the list was that Clinton was thinking of retaining Obama’s highly politicized Attorney General, Loretta Lynch.
And to show that the Democratic Party’s’ internal competing interest groups were a consideration ahead of mere qualifications, a telling entry was this: “EPA: Likely an African American (and/or at Education).”
Some political allies were going to get soon-to-be-selected “big jobs.” They include Sen. Cory Booker and Leah Daughtry, who helped organize the Democrats’ convention. Major donors, such as Elizabeth Bagley, were to be given prestigious ambassadorial slots.
Clinton Cabinet Candidates:
- Secretary of State: John Podesta, Bill Burns, Joe Biden
- Deputy Secretary of State: Kurt Campbell, Wendy Sherman
- Treasury Secretary: Sheryl Sanderg, Lael Brained
- Defense Secretary: Michèle Floury
- Attorney General: Loretta Lynch retained, Jennifer Granholm, Jamie Gorelick, Tom Perez
- Commerce Secretary: Gregory Meeks, Sheryl Sandberg, Terry McAuliffe
- Labor: Howard Schultz
- HHS: Neera Tanden
- Energy Secretary: Carol Browner
- Education Secretary: Jennifer Granholm, John Sexton
- EPA: Likely an African American (and/or at Education)
- Budget Director: Gene Sperling
- U.N Ambassador: Tom Nides, Wendy Sherman, Bill Burns
- Director of National Intelligence: Tom Donilon
- CIA Director: Tom Donilon, Mike Morell
- SEC Chair: Gary Gentler
- Big Jobs: Tom Vilsack, Cory Booker
Clinton White House Candidates
- White House Chief of Staff: Ron Klain
- Deputy Chief of Staff: Huma Abedin
- Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations: Sara Latham
- Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy: Maya Harris
- National Security Adviser: Jake Sullivan
- Deputy National Security Adviser: Laura Rosenberger
- Counterterrorism Adviser: Jeremy Bash
- West Wing Climate Czar: John Podesta
- Whatever She Wants: Jen Palmieri
- East Wing: Capricia Marshall
- Counselor: Philippe Reines
- Senior Adviser: Robby Mook
- Big Job: Leah Daughtry
- White House Counsel: Karen Dunn
- Deputy Counsel: Heather Samuelson
- Ambassador to NATO: Derek Chollet
- Ambassador to U.K.: Tom Nides, Anna Wintour
- Ambassador to France: Marc Lasry
- Ambassador to Ireland: Elizabeth Bagley
- Social Secretary: Dennis Cheng
- Deputy Social Secretary: Bryan Rafanelli
- Political Director: Marlon Marshall
- Speechwriting: Dan Schwerin, Megan Rooney
- Press Secretary: Brian Fallon
- Traveling Press Secretary: Nick Merrill
- Deputy Press Secretary: Lily Adams
- Communications Director: Kristina Schake
- Deputy Comms Director: Christina Reynolds, Lori Lodes
- Surrogate Communications: Adrienne Elrod
- Staff Secretary: Rob Russo
- Cabinet Affairs: Brynne Craig
- Domestic Policy Council: Ann O’Leary
- Some Other Council: Ed Meier
- Scheduling: Lona Valmoro
- Advance: Jason Chung
- Trip Director: Connolly Weigher
- Office of Administration: Charlie Baker
- Chief of Protocol: Natalie Jones Callahan
- DNC Chair: Tom Perez
- WJC Chief of Staff: Tina Floury
- WJC Deputy Chief of Staff: John Davidson
- Chelsea Chief of Staff: Bari Lurie
- Vice President Chief of Staff: Mike Henry
- V.P. Deputy Chief of Staff: Matt Paul
- V.P. Press Secretary: Amy Dudley
- Presidential Inaugural Committee Chair: Capricia Marshall
- Presidential Inaugural Committee co-E.D.s: Alex Hornbook and Brynne Craig
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail.com.
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