Biden: ‘Difficult decision’ to staff administration with House, Senate members

President-elect Joe Biden indicated he may be reluctant to pluck lawmakers from the House or the Senate to fill top administration roles, saying he needs leaders in Congress to help move his “progressive” agenda.

Biden said “nothing is off the table” as far as personnel is concerned, but he hinted in a Congress with a narrow Democratic majority in the House and a contested hold of the Senate, he may decide to keep allies on the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue.

“Taking someone out of the Senate, taking someone out of the House, particularly a person of consequence, is really a difficult decision that will have to be made,” he said in an exclusive interview on NBC News, the first such interview he’s given since winning the White House. “I have a very ambitious, very progressive agenda, and it’s going to take really strong leaders in the House and Senate to get it done.” 

The remarks come as the president-elect begins to build his administration, including staffing his Cabinet. He has already unveiled nominees for several national security posts, including secretary of State, ambassador to the United Nations, national security adviser and more. None of the nominees thus far are members of Congress.

Among those who have been floated as potential cabinet contenders are Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who is angling to lead the Labor Department, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). Warren was considered a possible nominee to helm the Treasury Department, but Biden is expected to tap former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen for that post. 

Nominating either Sanders or Warren would open up a vacancy in a Senate that will be controlled by either Democrats or Republicans by a narrow margin. The GOP currently holds a 50-48 majority in the next Senate, and two runoffs in Georgia will determine control of the chamber.

Both Sanders and Warren come from states with Republican governors who could fill their seats with Republicans, further hindering Democratic efforts in the upper chamber.

The same issue would exist in the House, where Democrats are expected to have one of the narrowest majorities in modern history.

Biden has already picked Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-La.) to serve as a senior White House adviser, though Richmond’s seat is in a safe blue district. The Louisiana Democrat served as a co-chair for Biden’s campaign and is known to be close to the president-elect. He’s also tapped California Sen. Kamala Harris to be his vice president, though her seat will also be filled by a Democrat by California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) and is expected to remain in Democratic hands.