US President Joe Biden filled the months before
Inauguration Day lining up a slate of Cabinet
secretaries, assistants and advisers, many of them
Jewish.
Biden’s choices reflect a diverse cross-section of American Jewry and possess expertise gleaned from decades of experience in government, science and medicine and law.
Here’s a rundown of the Jewish
names you should know as the Biden administration
begins.
Anthony Blinken, Secretary of State
Blinken, a longtime Biden
adviser with an extensive diplomacy resume, is the
stepson of a Holocaust survivor whose stories shaped his
worldview and subsequently his policy decisions,
including in the Middle East. He holds mainstream
Democratic views about Israel and said during his
confirmation hearing Tuesday that he wants the US to
reenter the Iran nuclear deal — and that he
would consult with Israel on Iran policy.
(Carolyn Kaster/AP)
David Cohen, CIA Deputy Director
Cohen, who has long
been involved in Jewish causes and issues, will
occupy the job he held under President Barack Obama. He
does not require confirmation, meaning that Biden’s CIA
has a top expert in Iran issues from Day One.
position at the Central Intelligence Agency. (Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images via JTA)
Merrick Garland, Attorney General
Garland was blocked from
joining the Supreme Court in the last year of the Obama
administration. Now, he’ll require Senate confirmation
to become the country’s top lawyer. In his speech
after being nominated,
he credited his grandparents, who fled anti-Semitism in
Europe before coming to the US.
(Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Avril Haines, Director of National Intelligence
Haines was deputy director of
the CIA under Obama and Biden reportedly
considered her to run that agency.
Her mother was the Jewish painter Adrian Rappin
(originally Rappaport), and her non-Jewish father once
wrote in an account about a trip with Haines to Israel
that the nominee identifies as Jewish.
her confirmation hearing on January 19, 2021, in Washington. (Joe Raedle/Pool/AFP)
Ronald Klain, Chief of Staff
Klain, a longtime Biden aide
who was the president-elect’s first
major appointment in November,
was previously chief of staff to Biden in his vice
president days and to Vice President Al Gore. He has
maintained ties with his childhood synagogue in
Indianapolis, where he famously learned multiple Torah
portions for his bar mitzvah, and has spoken about his
commitment to raising Jewish children.
(Bill O’Leary/The Washington Post/Getty Images)
Eric Lander, Office of Science and Technology Policy director
Lander, a
leading geneticist,
will require Senate confirmation after Biden elevated
his position to the Cabinet level. After he was
criticized for toasting James Watson, the scientist who
is credited with discovering the shape of DNA and who
also expressed racist and sexist views, Lander said he,
too, had been the subject of anti-Semitic comments by
Watson.
Technology Policy and adviser on science Eric Lander speaks during an event in Wilmington, Delaware,
January 16, 2021. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Rachel Levine, deputy health secretary
Levine, raised in a
Conservative Jewish home in Massachusetts, is
Pennsylvania’s health secretary. She is the
first known transgender person to be nominated for
a position that requires Senate confirmation.
Management Agency (PEMA) headquarters in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, May 29, 2020.
(Joe Hermitt/The Patriot-News via AP, File)
Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary of Homeland Security
Mayorkas, 60, the deputy
secretary of Homeland Security under President Barack
Obama, was born in Cuba to a Cuban Jewish father and
Romanian Jewish mother who survived the Holocaust. He
has worked closely with Jewish groups and spoken often
about the specific threats facing American Jews. An
array of Jewish groups sought a swift confirmation given
the threat of extremist violence surrounding the
presidential transition, but a Republican senator who
supported overturning the election results blocked
that possibility on Tuesday.
(AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Anne Neuberger, National Security Agency cybersecurity director
An Orthodox Jew originally from Brooklyn and
educated through college in Orthodox schools, Neuberger
has worked at the NSA for more than a decade. She helped
establish the US Cyber Command and worked as chief risk
officer, where she led the agency’s election security
efforts for the 2018 midterms.
Cybersecurity Directorate. (National Security Agency via JTA)
Wendy Sherman, deputy secretary of state
Sherman was the
lead negotiator for the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and
took the lead in advocating for the agreement with the
Jewish and pro-Israel communities, later describing
tensions with Israel and some American Jewish groups
over the deal as “very, very painful.” She has also
played a role in hewing the Democratic Party platform to
traditional pro-Israel lines.
Oct. 3, 2013, before a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing. (AP Photo/Molly Riley)
Janet Yellen, Treasury secretary
Yellen already made history as
the first woman chair of the Federal Reserve, but now
she has been appointed to be the
first female Treasury secretary.
The respected centrist was one of three Jews featured in
a 2016 Trump attack ad that reflected longstanding
anti-Semitic tropes.
December 13, 2017 in Washington, DC. (Photo credit should read BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)
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