The officials Joe Biden picked to fill his Cabinet

The Trump administration has authorized tens of billions of dollars in direct payments to American ranchers and commodity row crop farmers. Federal payments to farmers hit a record $46 billion in 2020, with trade mitigation payments and pandemic relief flowing swiftly to President Trump’s rural base in the South and Midwest. Trump’s other signature USDA initiatives have been regulatory policies aimed at reducing the number of Americans eligible for food assistance.

[Tom Vilsack faces new challenges as he returns to old job]

It is likely Biden would reverse erosions of SNAP and other food assistance programs, as well as restoring more rigorous school nutrition standards that were the centerpiece of Michelle Obama's Let's Move! effort. Biden has said he would support beginning farmers, pursue “smarter pro-worker and pro-family-farmer…policies,” and reward sustainable farming practices that reduce atmospheric carbon.

The chief of staff is often considered the president's gatekeeper, shaping his schedule and presidential access. They serve as a close adviser and also oversee White House staffing. This position does not require Senate confirmation.

[Biden’s choice of Ron Klain to run White House signals rejection of Trump-era chaos]

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross led the department to take an active role in President Trump’s trade wars. He championed an expansive interpretation of U.S. trade law, enabling Trump to impose tariffs on imported steel and aluminum in response to alleged national security threats. The so-called Section 232 tariffs were deeply controversial and alienated major U.S. trading partners, including Canada. Commerce also was a key player in the president’s confrontation with China. The department put prominent Chinese corporations such as Huawei on an export blacklist, all but severing them from critical American-made components, an important step toward decoupling the world’s two largest economies.

[Biden to name Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo as commerce secretary, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh for labor]

The Biden administration is unlikely to immediately roll back the Trump tariffs. But the department may put a greater emphasis on export promotion and, through its management of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, take a more proactive stance on climate change. Commerce, customarily considered a business community outpost, is unlikely to be among the first department jobs filled and the ultimate pick may depend on the demographic and political makeup of the rest of the Cabinet.

A Biden presidency is expected to strike a relatively steady course at the Pentagon, seeking to restore stability in military decision-making while reemphasizing alliances and pressing ahead with efforts to respond to China’s rise. Analysts expect Biden to continue troop cuts in Afghanistan, where violence is surging as diplomats seek to advance peace talks. But while the Trump administration has sent mixed messages about whether it will withdraw all troops in coming months in line with a U.S.-Taliban deal, Biden’s campaign has suggested it would opt to leave a small force to counter al-Qaeda and the Islamic State.

[Gen. Lloyd Austin, defense secretary nominee, brings deep combat experience and a connection with Biden]

Promising a break with often chaotic foreign policy, the new administration is expected to strike a less adversarial stance against Iran, which Trump has depicted as a chief American adversary.

Under Trump, the chair of the three-member Council of Economic Advisers was removed from the president's Cabinet. Biden will reinstate the position, filled by the president's chief economist, to the Cabinet.

[Unveiling economic team, Biden pledges, ‘Help is on the way’]

Under Secretary Betsy DeVos, the Education Department has rolled back some civil rights protections as well as Obama-era efforts to hold for-profit colleges accountable for poor outcomes. She has promoted alternatives to public schools and tried to slash federal funding for education. Biden is expected to reverse all of that, with more money for K-12 and higher education, new and revived civil rights protections and a focus on racial equity.

[Biden picks Miguel Cardona, Connecticut schools chief, as education secretary]

The Energy Department has been one of Trump's numerous fronts in rolling back environmental regulations. Under Biden, the department would likely move to tighten energy efficiency standards across industries and products and invest heavily in renewable energy. During the campaign, Biden introduced a $2 trillion plan to fight climate change that included pledges to eliminate carbon emissions from the electric sector by 2035, impose stricter gas mileage standards and fund investments to weatherize millions of homes and commercial buildings.

[Granholm reported to be Energy Secretary nominee]

Biden is planning for a complete reversal of recent federal environmental policy after the Trump administration undertook a dramatic rollback in environmental protections. Over 100 environmental safeguards were removed across the past four years. Biden plans to impose stricter environmental standards on industry, a job that would be overseen by his next EPA administrator.

[Biden picks top North Carolina environmental official to run EPA]

The Department of Health and Human Services, one of the government’s largest, has been the Trump administration’s main vehicle to weaken the Affordable Care Act and shift health policy in a more conservative direction in other ways. The department has sought to let states require some people on Medicaid to work or prepare for jobs, a move blocked by the courts. It has restricted federal funding of research that uses human fetal tissue.

[Biden picks Xavier Becerra as nominee for health and human services secretary]

Though a Republican Congress failed to repeal the ACA, HHS took many steps though executive action. It slashed funding to help boost enrollment in the insurance marketplaces created under the law, ended one type of subsidy for insurers, and widened the availability of inexpensive health plans that can bypass the law’s rules for insurance benefits and consumer protections. In contrast, the ACA is the basis of plans President-elect Biden has advocated for helping more Americans get affordable health coverage. He says that federal insurance subsidies should expand to help more middle-class families. He wants ACA health plans to be given to poor residents of a dozen states that have not expanded their Medicaid programs under the law. Biden also has proposed lowering from 65 years old to 60 the age for people to join Medicare, the vast federal insurance programs for older Americans. All these changes would require Congress to adopt them.

Under President Trump, the Department of Homeland Security’s focus shifted notably from counterterrorism to immigration and border enforcement. Trump turned the nation’s third-largest federal entity into a powerful tool of domestic policy and electoral politics, using DHS to carry out a wide-ranging immigration crackdown and quell street protests in American cities.

[Biden picks Alejandro Mayorkas, a son of Jewish Cuban refugees, to lead the Department of Homeland Security]

Created after the Sept. 11 attacks to reassure the American public and project stability, DHS went through unprecedented leadership turmoil under Trump, with five secretaries in four years. Biden is expected to try to stabilize the department by returning its focus to a broad range of threats, including counterterrorism, cyber threats and the pandemic response.

Under the Trump administration, the agency gutted Obama-era fair lending and fair housing laws. The new secretary is expected to restore these laws and be a key player in carrying out Biden's campaign promises to expand affordable housing, increase the availability of Section 8 vouchers and tackle racial bias in housing.

[Fudge says she will prioritize dignity as HUD secretary ]

Under Trump, the Interior Department opened public lands and waters, including the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, for fossil fuel extraction and logging. Biden pledges to reverse those efforts, aiming to restrict fossil fuel exploration on public lands and waters and expand conservation efforts.

[With historic picks, Biden puts environmental justice front and center]

Westerners have occupied the post for more than 120 years, with the single exception of Rogers Morton, who served under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford.

The Justice Department in the Trump administration most notably drew criticism for its leaders apparently bending to political pressure from Trump and getting involved in criminal cases involving the president's friends. Biden's Justice Department would probably seek to change that, restoring the department's historic independence on criminal matters.

[Biden plans to nominate Merrick Garland as his attorney general]

Biden's Justice Department also is likely to focus more on forcing reforms at police departments through court and other actions. The Justice Department in the Trump administration had largely abandoned those efforts, positioning itself as defending the police from unfair criticism.

Under Trump, the Department of Labor has taken a largely employer- and industry-friendly approach that has frustrated worker advocates, labor unions and Democrats, and drawn particularly vocal outcry during the pandemic. The DOL passed rules that exempted large numbers of workers from the paid sick leave requirements in the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, and issued strict guidelines for unemployment insurance payouts to gig and self-employed workers that many saw as restrictive.

[Biden to name Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo as commerce secretary, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh for labor]

Its workplace safety division, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, has declined to institute ironclad safety standards for the coronavirus, issuing only recommendations for employers instead of an enforceable set of rules. Before the pandemic, the Department took moves to restrict the ability of workers told hold joint employers accountable for wage and hour violations, and reduced the number of workers who were eligible for mandatory overtime payments.

The White House budget office acts as the nerve center of the government, an elite career workforce that prepares and helps administer the annual spending plan and helps set fiscal and personnel policy for federal agencies.

[Biden’s pick to lead White House budget office emerges as lightning rod for GOP]

The director of national intelligence serves as the president’s primary intelligence adviser and leader of the U.S. intelligence community. The DNI historically hasn’t been a political role, but under Trump, it has been held twice by loyalists who used their authority to advance Trump’s claims that he was the target of a conspiracy by intelligence officials. Under Biden, the DNI is expected to revert to the norm and act as a manager and setter of priorities for the agency.

[Biden to nominate Avril Haines as next director of national intelligence; she would be the first woman to hold the position]

Biden has elevated the presidential science adviser, who counsels the president on a broad range of scientific and technological topics, to be a member of the Cabinet. The adviser leads the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.

[Biden will elevate White House science office to cabinet-level]

The agency, which supports small-business owners and entrepreneurs, has been under fire recently for its management of a loan program intended to help small businesses weather the pandemic.

In the Trump administration, scores of veteran diplomats left after their loyalty to Trump was questioned and career employees were replaced by political appointees.

[Biden picks Antony Blinken as secretary of state, emphasizing experience and the foreign policy establishment]

Under Biden, the State Department is expected to be at the forefront of reversing some key Trump-era policies and restoring the centrality of diplomacy in foreign policy and battered U.S. credibility. Priorities include rebuilding strained alliances with Europe, returning to a more balanced approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, corralling global efforts to combat climate change and possibly changing course with Iran if the U.S. reenters the nuclear treaty Trump abandoned. They also are expected to maintain pressure on China over human rights and trade issues.

Normally a low-profile outpost, the position of chief trade negotiator became one of the Trump administration’s most consequential jobs. Ambassador Robert E. Lighthizer, an experienced trade attorney, was the intellectual muscle behind the president’s “America First” sentiments, driving a protectionist revolution in U.S. policy.With USTR’s help, Trump imposed tariffs on solar panels, washing machines, steel and aluminum along with much of what Americans import from China. Lighthizer, a fierce critic of the World Trade Organization, hammered out new agreements with South Korea, Mexico and Canada, and China. But he failed to achieve Trump’s goal of narrowing the U.S. trade deficit and left many U.S. allies irritated by his uncompromising stance.

[Biden selects Katherine Tai as U.S. trade representative]

Biden has said he plans no early reversal of the Trump tariffs, though that could come later. He also plans investments in infrastructure, education and manufacturing before seeking new trade deals. And he has proposed a $400 billion “Buy America” initiative, which could require renegotiating some existing accords.

The Trump administration issued a set of weaker carbon dioxide emissions standards for cars and SUVs and took a largely hands off approach to dealing with new technologies like automated vehicles. The fight against climate change will shape the Biden administration’s transportation policies. It is expected to stiffen emissions standards once again, and promote the adoption of electric vehicles.

[Biden says Buttigieg will play key role in rebuilding country after pandemic]

A grand bargain in Congress on infrastructure spending eluded the Trump administration, and reaching a spending deal to repair road and bridges and expand access to transit is expected to be another major focus for the new administration.

The Biden administration is expected to prioritize a massive stimulus package to shore up the economy’s shaky recovery. Biden also campaigned on tax increases for businesses and some of the wealthiest Americans — issues that the next secretary will have to pursue.

[Biden’s economic team set to prepare ambitious recovery plan, challenging Republicans’ renewed debt worries]

Under Trump, the U.N. ambassador was removed from the president's Cabinet, as part of a larger retreat from diplomacy and the world stage. Biden will reinstate the ambassador to the Cabinet as his administration aims to reverse Trump's "America First" foreign policy.

[Biden’s choice for UN envoy signals return to US engagement]

Veterans were a crucial constituency for Trump, who expanded their options to receive private health care outside the VA system. Biden, while not pledging to halt private care, has said he would work to build up the government-run system by filling thousands of vacancies for doctors, nurses and other medical staff.

[Some veterans groups are disappointed that Biden’s pick for VA chief never served in uniform]

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director will oversee the U.S. national public health institute to protect America from health, safety and security threats. The CDC director will coordinate the agency response to the coronavirus. The position does not require Senate confirmation.

[Biden’s choice to run CDC is a respected specialist who is unafraid to speak her mind]

The Central Intelligence Agency clandestinely gathers information around the world, primarily through a network of human sources. It has also played a key role in U.S. counterterrorism operations. Trump has often assailed the agency as a den of “deep state” conspirators who tried to undermine his election in 2016 and his presidency. Biden is expected to appoint a director who emphasizes the agency’s core mission and invigorates efforts to collect intelligence on nation-states, primarily Russia, China, Iran and North Korea.

[Biden taps William J. Burns, longtime diplomat, as next CIA director]

America's top doctor is expected to be part of a team of health-care officials charged with tackling the coronavirus, an issue Biden has said would be his top priority upon taking office.

The White House climate coordinator will focus on domestic climate policy and oversee a broad interagency effort to leverage the federal government’s powers to cut greenhouse gas emissions. While traditional players such as EPA and the Interior and Energy departments will regulate climate pollutants directly, departments including Treasury, Transportation and Agriculture will also use policy to try to tackle climate change.

[Biden picks former EPA chief Gina McCarthy as White House climate czar]

Biden pledged to reverse Trump's withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement and to encourage other nations to increase their commitments. During the campaign, Biden introduced a $2 trillion plan to eliminate carbon emissions from the electric sector by 2035.

[Biden names John Kerry as presidential climate envoy]

Biden will also elevate a special envoy for climate, a position outside the Cabinet that would not require Senate confirmation and will focus on foreign policy.

Combatting the coronavirus will be at the top of Biden's agenda after assuming the presidency. The coronavirus coordinator will oversee the administration's response and coordinate across federal agencies to increase testing and distribute vaccines.

The council works closely with executive agencies to shape federal environmental and energy policy and to ensure individual communities have a voice in the construction of pipelines, roads and other potentially polluting projects.

[Biden taps environmental law expert Brenda Mallory to head White House Council on Environmental Quality]

The national security adviser is a gatekeeper of sorts, coordinating the views of the military, the State Department and the intelligence community and helping the president understand the policy choices available. Trump has rarely sought or heeded the counsel of his national security adviser. President-elect Joe Biden is expected to choose a policy expert with whom he has had a long working relationship.

[Biden picks Jake Sullivan as his national security adviser]

The press secretary is the mouthpiece of the administration, interacting with the media and the White House press corps to deliver the administration's updates and perspectives. This position does not require Senate confirmation.

[Biden hires all-female senior communications team]

Advisers and strategists play a key role in shaping the president's agenda. Under Trump, notable figures included Stephen Miller, Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump. These positions do not require Senate confirmation.

[Biden builds White House team and tries to show dangers of Trump’s intransigence]