Biden’s Cabinet Starting To Fill Out

As President-Elect Biden’s Cabinet starts to take shape, the RV Industry Association’s government affairs team is paying close attention to how this will impact our federal initiatives and priorities. In some cases, such as former Mayor Pete Buttigieg being nominated for Department of Transportation Secretary, we may have some inside tracks to address transportation and infrastructure issues. 

“Our leadership in the Outdoor Recreation Roundtable gives us the opportunities to work on critical issues with all key Cabinet positions,” said RV Industry Association Vice President of Government Affairs Jay Landers. “The breadth of ORR’s membership and the relationships of other members allows our team to have access to policymakers with whom we may not have established relationships. But by working together with our ORR partners, we will be able to get our issues and policy positions in front of all the right Cabinet members.”

Below are a few of the more recent developments surrounding the Biden Cabinet that are of interest to the RV industry.

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Representative Deb Haaland is rumored to be President-elect Joe Biden’s preferred candidate to lead the Department of the Interior. Other top contenders include retiring New Mexico Senator Tom Udall and former Deputy Secretary of Interior Mike Connor.

A final decision has been delayed as Democratic House leaders express concerns about filling Haaland’s seat and other vacant spots with such a slim margin of control in the House of Representatives. While House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had warned the Biden-Harris transition team against picking another Democrat for a cabinet post, yesterday Speaker Pelosi publicly endorsed Haaland for the Interior post.

With a Democrat as governor of New Mexico, Haaland’s seat would likely stay in Democratic hands but it could take months to hold a special election. Biden previously tapped two other Democratic Representatives, Cedric Richmond of Louisiana and Marcia Fudge of Ohio, for positions in his administration. While these seats are also likely to remain in Democratic control, the wait to fill them in special elections will leave House Democrats with an even narrower majority.

If chosen and confirmed as Interior secretary, Haaland would become the first American Indian cabinet secretary in U.S. history. Haaland, was just elected to her second term representing New Mexico in the House and she chairs the House Natural Resources subcommittee that oversees national parks, forests, and public lands. Likewise, Mike Connor is also of Native America heritage.

WHITE HOUSE OFFICE OF DOMESTIC CLIMATE POLICY

Gina McCarthy, a former EPA administrator, will be named to run a new White House office on climate change. McCarthy, who now leads the Natural Resources Defense Council, was the driving force behind President Obama’s efforts to combat climate change through regulation, including his signature Clean Power Plan. The RV Industry Association worked with McCarthy during the Obama years to impact CAFE standards.

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

As noted above, Indiana’s own Pete Buttigieg has been selected to be Biden’s candidate for Transportation Secretary. Biden issued a statement that said he had chosen Mr. Buttigieg, “. . . because this position stands at the nexus of so many of the interlocking challenges and opportunities ahead of us. Jobs, infrastructure, equity, and climate all come together at the DOT.” Buttigieg served as a two-term mayor of South Bend from 2012 to 2020, making urban development and economic revitalization as cornerstones of his administration.

Buttigieg would take over a department whose most critical functions are setting transportation regulations and distributing vast sums of money, mostly to states to fund their respective highway, road, and transit systems. The most critical pool of funds at the DOT’s disposal—the $43 billion federal Highway Trust Fund—is in desperate need of major reform. The fund is supported primarily by federal taxes on gasoline and diesel fuel, but failure to increase the gas tax since 1993 and the advent of electric and fuel-efficient vehicles has led to increasingly large deficits in the fund that Congress has plugged with money from other sources.

As additional Cabinet posts are announced, the Association’s federal affairs team will continue to keep members updated on how selections will impact the RV industry.