It’s Joe Biden’s Swamp Now
So far, Joe Biden’s transition has hired liberally from Wall Street and corporate America, chosen appointees who have made multiple trips through the revolving door, and recruited fans of fossil fuels in the middle of a climate crisis. It’s little different than what we saw under Donald Trump.

Joe Biden delivers a speech at the William Hicks Anderson Community Center on July 28, 2020 in Wilmington, Delaware. Mark Makela / Getty
With Joe Biden now weeks into the transition for his presidency, it’s time to play a game. That game is called, “What Would People Say If This Was a Trump Pick?”
For instance, what would people say if Donald Trump’s pick to head the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) was a figure who not only floated cutting entitlements, but has hoovered up millions from Wall Street and virtually every malign corporate interest you can imagine? What if she was someone who once privately suggested the United States solve its debt issues by having Libya hand over its oil for the privilege of being destroyed by its military? What if, in addition to all this, she was also a union-buster who outed a sexual harassment victim and punched an employee for asking Hillary Clinton a question about the Iraq War?
Or what if, for secretary of state, director of national intelligence, and lower ranking positions helping staff his administration, Biden had nominated people who had parlayed the experience and relationships they’d gained serving while in government into lucrative private-sector jobs opening doors for military contractors and multinationals, sometimes with that very same government?