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Biden team weighs informal ban on naming Democratic senators to Cabinet

01 November 2020
Dan Ackermann

Joe Biden’s team is considering an informal ban on naming Democratic U.S. senators to the Cabinet if he wins — which would effectively block Elizabeth Warren for Treasury or Bernie Sanders for Labor — people familiar with the discussions tell Axios.

The big picture: Biden, if he wins, is bracing for bruising legislative battles on day one, starting with the next phase of coronavirus relief. Many advisers don’t think he can afford to lose a single vote in the Senate if Democrats hold a slim majority.

  • Biden himself hasn’t made a decision on a potential Senate ban, with his efforts focused on winning on Tuesday, the sources say.

The intrigue: An informal ban could also be an elegant way of tamping down campaigns to place progressive senators in top Cabinet roles by reminding the movement of the priority around enacting legislation.

  • Warren and Sanders both come from an unusual construct — blue states with Republican governors who'd be empowered to fill vacancies.
  • There might be a way for a Democratic supermajority in the Massachusetts legislature to force Gov. Charlie Baker to appoint a Democrat. That looks less likely in Vermont where Gov. Phil Scott is expected to cruise to re-election.

Be smart: Progressives are trying to build momentum for Warren and Sanders, to press a prospective Biden administration to embrace economic justice and eschew traditional special interests.

  • Some members of Biden’s inner circle are deeply skeptical about handing Treasury, which will play a key role in any economic recovery to Warren, who has expressed interest in the job.

Between the lines: If strictly applied, an informal ban also would dash Cabinet hopes for senators from states with Democratic governors, such as Chris Coons, Tammy Duckworth, Amy Klobuchar and Chris Murphy.

  • Biden is close to several of them and would have to gently tell them their services are needed more in the Senate.

But, but, but: If Democrats can secure a comfortable margin in the Senate, there’s less of an argument that losing a single seat would crimp Biden’s agenda.

Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times

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Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.

Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.

The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.

  • The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.

What the transcripts say:

  • Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
  • The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
  • Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."

Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.