Who could be in Harris’s Cabinet? Let the chatter begin

As Democrats revel in Vice President Harris closing the polling gap against former President Trump, speculation is ramping up over who might serve in a potential Harris Cabinet if she prevails in November. 

Any Cabinet appointee would likely face a razor-thin Democratic-controlled or GOP-controlled Senate, meaning Harris would have to balance partisan realities with her desire to break the mold with her choices, like naming the first woman to head the Pentagon.

“I’m sure it will be very diverse. I think it will be a mix of people who have been around Washington for a while in these kinds of roles because she respects that, but also she might mix it up and bring in new voices,” said a Harris ally.

Harris would likely keep some Biden administration officials in their positions, and pull from her time in the Senate and as California’s attorney general.

Here are some of the top choices for Harris, if she wins.

Secretary of State

There is likely to be a change-up atop the State Department, with President Biden’s top diplomat, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, suggesting he won’t stay on in a Harris administration. 

“As to my own future, all I’m looking at right now is the balance of this administration and January,” Blinken said while in Haiti earlier this month. “And I can tell you from having spent some time over the last week on a bit of a break with my kids, I will relish having a lot more time with them.”

CIA Director Bill Burns, a veteran diplomat, is being floated as a possible secretary of State. Biden has relied on Burns for the most sensitive diplomatic missions over the last four years. He was dispatched to Kabul to meet with the Taliban in the midst of the terrorist organization’s lightning takeover of Afghanistan; to Moscow to warn Russian President Vladimir Putin against the full-scale invasion of Ukraine; and most recently as the top negotiator on efforts to secure a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas. 

“I think Bill Burns is the best strategist in government,” said Michael O’Hanlon, senior fellow and director of research in foreign policy at the Brookings Institution. “I would hope he’d be strongly considered for secretary of State.”

Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.), a Biden foreign policy confidant and a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee with a long-time focus on Africa, is another name that jumps out in conversations of a potential secretary of State. So does Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), also a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Both senators punted when asked by The Hill if they had any aspirations to be America’s top diplomat, saying they were focused on Democrats taking the House, Senate and presidency in November. 

But Coons said the Senate has “historically” served as a promising pool from which to pull Cabinet officials. Harris was four years into her first term in the Senate when Biden chose her for vice president. Former Secretaries of State Hillary Clinton and John Kerry both served as senators.

One former Harris Senate aide noted that the vice president is friendly with Murphy, which could boost his chances. 

“They do have a relationship, and they work well together,” the source said.

At age 51, Murphy also represents a younger cohort. Coons is a decade older at 61.

Secretary of Defense

A potential Harris administration could finally give Michèle Flournoy her turn and make history with the first female Defense secretary.

Flournoy was under secretary of Defense for policy under former President Obama for three years, making her the highest-ranking woman in the history of the department. She was considered a front-runner for the top role under President Biden, given her vast national security experience, but was passed over for Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who became the first Black man to lead the Pentagon. 

“Harris wants to break new ground, [the Defense Department] is a place that there’s never been a woman,” a longtime Democratic consultant said, highlighting Flournoy. 

Likewise, O’Hanlon, of the Brookings Institution, said Flournoy’s name “may top the list of hypotheticals,” but he also raised Colin Kahl, who served as under secretary of Defense for policy in the Biden administration until July 2023; and Mara Karlin, who served as assistant secretary of Defense for strategy, plans, and capabilities between August 2021 and December 2023. 

National security adviser

One of the most important positions that doesn’t require Senate confirmation is the national security adviser — the position currently held by Jake Sullivan. 

Phil Gordon, a veteran of the Obama and Clinton administrations, has served as Harris’s national security adviser since March 2022, and was her deputy national security adviser at the start of the administration. He’s a top contender to stay in the position if the vice president moves into the Oval Office. 

“I think he’s a very smart and creative thinker,” said Matt Duss, executive vice president at the Center for International Policy and the former foreign policy adviser to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). 

Duss pointed to Gordon’s book “Losing the Long Game: The False Promise of Regime Change in the Middle East,” as welcome thinking in “that he’s not someone who kind of claims to these illusions and fantasies of the magical abilities of American power, he takes a bit more realistic approach.”

Randy Scheunemann, vice chair of the International Republican Institute and strategic counselor with the Halifax International Security Forum, described Gordon as a friend but added “he’s very cautious,” and Scheunemann was critical of Gordon’s time as assistant secretary of State for European and Eurasian affairs and a change, at the time, of U.S. missile defense posture in Europe.

But more recently, Gordon’s role was highlighted as key in helping ensure a smooth transition of power after the presidential elections in Guatemala and preventing a coup. 

A Republican in the Cabinet?

Harris has committed to appointing a Republican to her Cabinet, a nod to bipartisanship that has precedent in previous presidential administrations. It’s unclear which Cabinet position she would want to fill with a GOP figure.

Two high-profile names have put their names on the potential list with endorsements of Harris and frequent criticism of Trump: former House Reps. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) and Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.). 

Cheney, along with her father, former Republican Vice President Dick Cheney, have said they are voting for Harris in November. 

Kinzinger, who spoke at the Democratic National Convention, told the Los Angeles Times earlier this week that he would “certainly” be open to serving in a Harris administration. 

O’Hanlon, from Brookings, also raised U.S. Ambassador to Kenya Meg Whitman as an intriguing Republican option, given her foreign policy experience and background in business and technology. As the former CEO of eBay, Hewlett Packard Enterprise and the short-lived media company Quibi, she was considered a possible Commerce secretary pick for Biden in 2021.

Attorney general

Gov. Roy Cooper of North Carolina, who was also considered as Harris’s potential running mate, is viewed as the top contender for attorney general. He was North Carolina’s attorney general for almost two decades. 

A more controversial pick would be the vice president’s brother-in-law and campaign adviser, Tony West. 

Other names for the top law enforcement job include former Sen. Doug Jones (D-Ala.), who was spotted as an attendee at the Democratic National Convention, and Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey (D), also the state’s former attorney general. 

Those close to Harris point to Cooper as the most likely possibility. A longtime Democratic consultant said Harris will likely look to appoint former attorneys general like Cooper because Harris has stayed close with others who formerly served in the role.

“They have a very great relationship … and he’s a good surrogate for her and brings a lot to the table. For the people who haven’t been around Washington, he’s a good example of that,” a Harris ally said of Cooper.

West was associate attorney general under Obama and is married to Harris’s sister, Maya. He most recently served as chief legal officer at Uber. 

“She obviously very much trusts him and he’s been involved and well respected, and we’ve seen him traveling with her on [Air Force Two],” a Harris ally said of West.

But others are skeptical she would choose family. A source close to Harris said she would likely want to steer clear of perceptions of nepotism.

Treasury secretary

Treasury Secretary may be an area where Harris keeps on a Biden-era Cabinet official, at least early into the administration. Those close to Harris note her admiration for Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.

“She likes Janet Yellen. Especially when you’re talking about the economy, she likes people who have been doing the work and have done a really good job in the role already. That is a huge plus,” the former Harris Senate aide said.

Other names floated for Treasury include Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, if she were to leave her post, and World Bank President Ajay Banga, who previously was the executive chair of Mastercard and worked with Harris closely on her Partnership for Central America work. CNBC also reported last month that JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon was being discussed for the role. 

There has never been an African American Treasury secretary, though, which could make it a position where Harris wants to break the mold.

Labor secretary

Sen. Laphonza Butler (D-Calif.) is widely expected to join Harris’s Cabinet. Butler is not seeking another term after she was appointed to fill the vacancy of the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) when she died in October 2023.

Butler, a Californian like Harris, is a longtime ally of hers. She would be an obvious pick for Labor secretary given her background as a union organizer and president of California SEIU State Council. 

“It would 1,000 percent make sense for her to go into a Cabinet role. I think that is more her speed. That is something that she would do extremely well in,” the former Harris Senate aide said. “She works very well with Kamala. She knows how she thinks, she’s really been there for years, and they work really, extremely well together.”

Others to watch

Those close to Harris point to three former colleagues in the Senate — Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) and retiring Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) — as options to watch for Harris.

She is also close friends with Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who could take on another role in a potential Harris administration or stay on leading his current agency.