Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) is seeking clarification on the agenda behind President-elect Joe Biden’s Cabinet picks.
“I think it’d be great to see a more cohesive vision across the entire Cabinet. You have an individual appointment here, an individual appointment there,” Ocasio-Cortez told reporters Wednesday evening.
She added, “We can wrestle about whether they are bold enough or ambitious enough, especially given the uncertainty and what kind of Senate we’re going to have.”
Ocasio-Cortez explained she is confused by the mindset behind Biden’s Cabinet selections.
“But aside from that, I think one of the things I’m looking for, when I see all of these picks together is: What is the agenda? What is the overall vision going to be? I think that’s a little hazy,” she said.
Ocasio-Cortez said she needs an understanding of the overall message Biden is trying to communicate with his Cabinet.
“I’m trying to read into, I guess like many other people, what is the overall message from the big picture in this entire Cabinet put together? And what is the agenda for it, because we have a person who has a more conservative history, that’s one thing, but what is the mission that they are being given in their individual agency, whether it’s Transportation, Defense, OMB, etc.?” she said.
Ocasio-Cortez continued, “What is the mandate here? And, yeah, I just think that’s something that we’re looking to see is, it’s something that I hope will be pushed.”
Her comments come just a week after Biden told CNN, “I’m going to keep my commitment that the administration, both in the White House and outside in the Cabinet, is going to look like the country.”
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) has expressed concerns Biden is appointing too many members from the House to his Cabinet amid the House’s slim majority, as IJR previously reported.
“I’m certainly concerned by the slimming of the majority. I’ve indicated to the administration very early on that I wanted to be very careful in terms of the members that they appointed from the Congress given the closeness of our majority,” Hoyer said.