By a vote of 84 – 15, Janet Yellen was confirmed yesterday as Treasury Secretary by the Senate. She becomes the first woman to head Treasury in its history. In her role, she will play a critical role in the Biden Administration’s COVID recovery plans.
Category: Biden Administration
Biden Repeals EO on Diversity Trainings
President Biden has repealed a Trump-administration Executive Order 13950 requiring all new and amended federal government contracts to include language prohibiting the contractor from implementing any workplace training that endorsed what the Order deemed “divisive concepts,” including that an individual, by virtue of his or her race or sex, is prone to behaviors that are inherently racist or sexist.
Biden’s Executive Order repeals the Trump order in its entirety and affirms it is the policy of the federal government to “pursue a comprehensive approach to advancing equity for all, including people of color and others who have been historically underserved, marginalized, and adversely affected by persistent poverty and inequality.”
More details here.
Education Names Initial Political Appointees
The Education Department has released its initial list of political appointees. The list is available here.
More Executive Actions Taken on First Full Day
President Biden took more executive actions on Thursday, his first full day in office, with these aimed squarely at addressing different aspects of the impact of COVID-19. Among the executive orders issued was one specifically geared towards reopening educational institutions, including colleges and universities.
In total, he issued seven executive orders and a memo, all of which are available here.
Agencies Begin to Fill Leadership Positions
A number of agencies have started naming individuals for key positions within their ranks.
The Department of Energy released a slate of individuals for senior positions earlier today, which is available here. The Department of Interior also publicly released yesterday a number of names tapped for leadership posts in the agency.
We will continue to post other agency staffing announcements on our site.