Hill Dems jockeying for Biden Cabinet posts see hopes shrink after lackluster election results

Congressional Democrats advocating for a spot in President-elect Joe Biden’s Cabinet saw their odds diminish last week after a disappointing showing for down-ballot candidates in the election.  

Although Democrats maintained a slim control in the House, they lost critical swing-district seats and failed to take the Senate majority outright. Two Georgia Senate runoff races in January will determine which party controls the upper chamber. 

There are still some Hill Democrats who could be asked to join the Biden administration as advisers or appointees, but many more are off the shortlist amid concerns the party could risk imperiling its narrow control.

In the Senate, that includes Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., according to Politico. Democrats have privately acknowledged that if Republicans retain control of the Senate and Mitch McConnell remains majority leader, the progressives have no chance of confirmation.

Progressives have floated Warren and Sanders as possible picks to head the Treasury and Labor departments, respectively. Sanders indicated Wednesday that he was open to the possibility. 

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