Biden Administration: The Establishment vs. the Radicals | National Review
I m not saying conservatives would love the people who would make up an Establishment-heavy Biden administration. But these people are much less intent upon turning everything in America upside down, because they re already the establishment.
Ron Klain may be general counsel for an investment firm called Revolution, but he doesn t want an actual revolution. Tony Blinken is going to move foreign policy leftward, but he s not going to have any open fights with Israel. Biden s old chief of staff, Steve Ricchetti, is not a man dedicated to destroying capitalism:
After the Clintons left the White House, Ricchetti fully cashed out, building Ricchetti Inc. with his brother. Armed with a long rolodex, the brothers grabbed a large slice of corporate America as clients, including AT&T, General Motors, defense contractor United Technologies, the American Council of Life Insurers, and the American Bankers Association. But health care was always a large part of the business, with multiple drug companies, insurance associations, and hospital trade groups signing on.
When radical Democrats wanted to defund the police, Biden proposed another $300 million for community policing initiatives, and Biden s policy chief Stef Feldman said it was designed to push police forces in the right direction. Whether or not you like that particular proposal, it s one of the better recent examples of Biden telling the left wing of his party that they can t get what they want.
I m not thrilled about the return of Anita Dunn to the White House. Maybe she ll bring back Attack Watch! But I had forgotten that after leaving the Obama administration, Dunn had headed up an industry group working against Michelle Obama s healthy eating initiatives and for the for-profit college industry.
Remember, the president appoints, and the Senate confirms or rejects, roughly 750 significant executive branch positions. You may have no desire to ever be the assistant secretary for disability employment policy at the Department of Labor, assistant secretary for Financial Management and Comptroller of the of the U.S. Army, or the alternate executive director of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development. But the country is full of wonky progressives who cannot wait to get their hands on the wheel of the administrative state. (Those are all real positions, not a Weed Agency parody, and they all have nominees selected by President Trump who are awaiting action by the Senate.)
If Biden doesn t have an Establishment crew ready to step into the key spots, we will end up with more of the Angry Twitter Lefties taking the behind-the-scenes policymaking positions. There will be a push to make
Ugh.