Lloyd Austin would be Joe Biden's Secretary of Defense 1:15
(CNN) ––
US President-elect Joe Biden has moved quickly to build his new government, announcing his picks for cabinet positions, such as defense and health leaders.
Several of those chosen by Biden would make history if the US Senate confirmed them.
For example, the first woman or person of color to hold certain positions.
Many also have decades of experience in their field and worked in the administration of President Barack Obama.
Here's what you need to know about each of Biden's picks, who will need Senate confirmation:
Lloyd Austin, Secretary of Defense
Austin would make history as the first black person to lead the Pentagon if confirmed by the Senate.
Austin is a retired army general and former commander of the US Central Command.
He has worked closely with Biden in the past.
While Biden was vice president, Austin served as the Army's deputy chief of staff and commanding general of US forces in Iraq.
Later, he was a commander of CENTCOM.
Biden and Austin had discussions on a variety of topics, including those from the Middle East and Central and South Asia.
Austin would need a waiver from Congress to be confirmed in civilian office.
This is because federal law requires seven years of retirement from active duty before assuming office.
Austin retired from active duty just four years ago.
Xavier Becerra, Secretary of Health and Human Services
Becerra would be the first Latino to lead the Department of Health and Human Services if confirmed by the Senate.
He currently serves as the California Attorney General.
He is also the first Latino to hold that position in state history.
Becerra has been a prominent advocate for the Affordable Care Act in the courts.
As the Trump administration and a coalition of Republican state attorneys general fight to invalidate the historic healthcare law, also known as Obamacare, Becerra has led a group of Democratic attorneys general arguing why the legislation remains valid.
Becerra served 12 terms in Congress as a member of the United States House of Representatives.
There he held various leadership positions.
He was chairman of the House Democratic Legislators Group and chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Legislators Group.
He also served as a senior member of the Social Security Means and Arbitrary Subcommittee.
In addition, he was the first Latino to serve as a member of the Ways and Means Commission.
Becerra also served a term in the California Legislature and is a former Deputy Attorney General for the California Department of Justice.
Antony Blinken, Secretary of State
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Blinken served in the Obama administration as undersecretary of state, assistant to the president, and top deputy national security adviser.
He served as a national security advisor to then-Vice President Biden.
He was also a deputy assistant to the president during Obama's first term.
He has been a senior member of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Additionally, he was the Democratic Personnel Director on the United States Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
During the Clinton administration, Blinken was a staff member of the National Security Council at the White House.
He also held positions as Special Assistant to the President, Senior Director for European Affairs, and Senior Director of Speech Writing and then Strategic Planning.
He was Clinton's top foreign policy speech writer.
Linda Thomas-Greenfield, United States Ambassador to the United Nations
Thomas-Greenfield is a career diplomat who would return to public service after retiring in 2017, after a 35-year career in the US Foreign Service.
Under the Obama administration, Thomas-Greenfield served as deputy secretary of the Office of African Affairs from 2013 to 2017. Prior to that role, she was the director general of the Foreign Service and director of human resources.
Thomas-Greenfield has been an ambassador to Liberia and has also been assigned to Switzerland, Pakistan, Kenya, Gambia, Nigeria and Jamaica.
Thomas-Greenfield served as Senior Deputy Under Secretary of the Office of African Affairs from 2006 to 2008. In addition, she was Deputy Under Secretary of the Office of Population, Refugees and Migration from 2004 to 2006.
Since retiring in 2017, Thomas-Greenfield has led the Africa practice at Albright Stonebridge Group, a diplomacy firm chaired by former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.
Avril Haines, Director of National Intelligence
Haines would be the first woman to serve as director of national intelligence if the Senate confirms her in office.
Haines was an assistant to the president and Obama's top deputy national security adviser.
He chaired the Committee of Deputies of the National Security Council, responsible for formulating the administration's foreign and national security policy.
Haines previously served as deputy director of the Central Intelligence Agency.
She was also a legal advisor to the National Security Council.
And she served as deputy senior adviser to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, while Biden served as chair in that group.
Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary of National Security
Mayorkas would be the first Latino and immigrant to assume the leadership of the Department of Homeland Security if the Senate confirms it.
He was undersecretary for Homeland Security during the Obama administration.
He also served as director of the Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) of the Department of Homeland Security.
While at that agency, Mayorkas oversaw the implementation of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, also known as DACA.
The program was an executive action by the Obama administration that protected young undocumented immigrants who came to the United States as children from deportation.
President Donald Trump decided to end DACA in 2017, but was ultimately prevented from doing so by the Supreme Court.
Vivek Murthy, US Director General of Health.
Murthy previously served as the CEO of U.S. Health under the Obama administration from 2014 to 2017.
During his time in that role, Murthy helped lead the national response to the Ebola and Zika viruses.
So does the opioid crisis and other health challenges.
Murthy has been one of Biden's top health advisers since the campaign.
He was on Biden's public health advisory committee when the pandemic first took hold in the U.S. Additionally, he has served as co-chair of the president-elect's covid-19 advisory board during the transition.
Murthy faced opposition from some Republicans during his Senate confirmation process in 2014, because he characterized gun violence in the US as a public health crisis.
Ultimately, he was confirmed in office by a very narrow margin.
However, he could face an uphill battle in the Senate once again if Republicans retain the majority.
Cecilia Rouse, president of the Council of Economic Advisers
Rouse would be the first woman of color to chair the Council of Economic Advisers if the Senate confirms her.
Rouse has served as dean of the School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University.
As well as professor of economics and public affairs at the same institution.
Rouse was previously a member of Obama's Council of Economic Advisers.
He also served on the National Economic Council during the Clinton administration as a special assistant to the president.
Neera Tanden, Director of the Office of Management and Budget
Tanden would be the first woman of color and the first American from South Asia to serve as head of the Office of Management and Budget, should the Senate confirm her.
Tanden is the executive director and president of the left-leaning Center for American Progress and executive director of the Center for American Progress Action Fund.
Biden's transition team prepares for a tough fight for Tanden's confirmation in the Senate.
In fact, he already faces fierce opposition from Senate Republicans.
Tanden has frequently clashed with Republicans and the progressive wing of the Democratic Party on Twitter.
Tanden previously served in the Obama and Clinton administrations.
She was a senior advisor for health reform at the Department of Health and Human Services.
She also served as the internal policy director for the Obama campaign.
She was the policy director for Hillary Clinton's first presidential campaign and served in Clinton's Senate office.
Janet Yellen, Secretary of the Treasury
Yellen would make history as the first woman to be Secretary of the Treasury if confirmed by the Senate.
Yellen was already the first woman to chair the Federal Reserve, where she served from 2014 to 2018. Previously, she served four years as vice chair of the board.
She was also the president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco for four years prior to that.
Yellen also served as chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers from 1997 to 1999.
Cabinet
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