The President’s Team
President Biden and VP Harris have already made huge strides to build our country back better, including assembling a team to help them do the work. And they need you on their team, too.
A team that looks like America
President Biden is on track to have the most diverse Cabinet in U.S. history with some notable firsts.
How it Works
The Nomination and Confirmation Process
The nomination and confirmation process can be a simple and quick one. However, it can also become partisan and complicated, creating a logjam of nominations.
Before any nominations are made, the White House vets a list of qualified candidates. Once the nominees have been selected, the White House sends the formal nominations to the U.S. Senate where the appropriate committee conducts a hearing to examine the nominee. The committee then reports the nominee to the Senate favorably, unfavorably or without recommendation. The committee may also choose to decline to act. However, the Senate may still bring the nomination to a vote. If the committee reports the nominee as favorable, the Senate then votes to confirm or reject by a simple majority vote.
Once approved, the nominee receives their formal commission and is sworn in to office.
So far President Biden’s nominations are moving along but at a slower rate than his predecessors. While it was only hours after the swearing in that the Senate began confirming Biden’s nominations, Trump had two nominees confirmed by Inauguration Day in 2017 and former President Obama had six nominees confirmed by Inauguration Day in 2009. In order for President Biden and Vice President Harris to continue with their agenda to build back better, we must put pressure on the Senate to confirm these nominations in a timely manner.
Prioritizing Equity
The White House Gender Policy Council
On January 19, the day before President Biden and Vice President Harris were sworn into office, the Biden-Harris administration announced the formation of the White House Gender Policy Council, co-chaired by Jennifer Klein, Chief Strategy and Policy Officer at TIME’S UP, and Julissa Reynoso, the incoming Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff to Dr. Jill Biden.
The council will guide and coordinate government policy that impacts women and girls, across a wide range of issues such as economic security, health care, racial justice, gender-based violence, and foreign policy, working in cooperation with the other White House policy councils.
We are thrilled by the steps that the Biden-Harris administration is taking towards gender equality. Read more about the White House Gender Policy Council.
“The work of this council is going to be critical to ensuring we build our nation back better by getting closer to equality for women and to the full inclusion of women in our economy and our society.”
— President Biden, 1/19/2021