, Columnist
Biden’s Staffing Fights Suggest a Healthy Party
It may look uninspired. But staffing a new administration is one way parties resolve their internal differences.
Personnel is policy.
Photographer: Jim Watson/AFP
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The best piece I’ve seen so far on President-elect Joe Biden’s cabinet-building is from Perry Bacon Jr. at FiveThirtyEight. I’ve written a few items about Biden’s personnel choices, but this one made me step back and think about the process a bit. What Bacon gets right is that putting together a cabinet and a White House staff — putting together a presidency — is more than anything an exercise in party politics.