Biden weighs naming cabinet officials before election, including Republicans

(C) Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Democratic U.S. presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden speaks about the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic at an event in Wilmington

By Trevor Hunnicutt

(Reuters) – Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden said on Wednesday he would consider announcing the names of some cabinet officials before the election – and that some of the people might be Republicans.

Speaking at a fundraising event, Biden said he would not rule out bringing people from the rival party on board for top administration jobs, as he considers an unorthodox rollout of his running mate and others selected for key posts months before the Nov. 3 election.

The former vice president said the process is early and that he has not yet made any decisions.

In recent weeks Biden has promoted himself as a unity candidate who can appeal both to liberals seeking vast changes in Washington and moderate and conservative voters.

Biden told donors at the online event he was thinking about “maybe announcing not the whole cabinet, but some,” before the election to give voters a better sense of how his administration would look.

“I don’t have any limitation on if someone were a Republican if they’re the best-qualified person to do it,” he said. “But I’m not there yet.”

Biden began thinking about what he wants a hypothetical administration to look like even before he became Democrats’ presumptive nominee to take on Republican President Donald Trump.

He is close to naming a committee to run background checks on possible running mates. He has already indicated he will choose a woman for that role and hopes to have the person vetted by July.

“I have made it clear from the beginning that, if I’m president, my administration, my cabinet, my vice president, the Supreme Court, etcetera, it will look like the country, it will look like America,” he said on Wednesday.

Candidates often wait until closer to their party’s summertime conventions to announce a running mate and until after the election to select key advisers and staff members.