WASHINGTON — President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. named two senior officials from the Obama White House to key jobs on Thursday, putting Susan Rice, a former national security adviser, in charge of his Domestic Policy Council and nominating President Barack Obama’s chief of staff, Denis McDonough, to be secretary of veterans affairs. Both choices came as surprises, particularly the decision to place a lifelong national security professional like Ms. Rice into a top domestic policy job. The appointment of Ms. Rice also helps Mr. Biden meet his commitment to diversity by installing a Black woman in a White House post with major influence over a wide range of federal policies, from education to health care to racial equity. Like Ms. Rice, Mr. McDonough, who if confirmed will take over the Department of Veterans Affairs, a politically important agency long known for dysfunction and scandal, has a national security background. He served as a foreign policy aide on Capitol Hill and then as President Barack Obama’s deputy national security adviser before becoming his chief of staff.

Source: New York Times December 11, 2020 00:53 UTC