Washington (CNN)President-elect
Joe Biden appeared to pour cold water on the idea of nominating Sens. Elizabeth Warren or Bernie Sanders to his Cabinet, suggesting he would instead like to keep them in the US Senate to help him carry out a progressive agenda.
Biden told NBC in an interview aired Tuesday night that there is already "significant representation among progressives in our administration," but said "there's nothing really off the table."
"But one thing is really critical: taking someone out of the Senate, taking someone out of the House (of Representatives), particularly a person of consequence, is really a difficult decision that would have to be made," Biden said. "I have a very ambitious, very progressive agenda, and it's going to take really strong leaders in the House and Senate to get it done."
Biden said he was open to considering naming a Republican who voted for President Donald Trump to a spot in his administration, saying, "I want this country to be united. The purpose of our administration is, once again, uniting. We can't keep this virulent political dialogue going. It has to end."
The comments are likely to discourage those on the left who want to see Biden name progressive champions in top roles in his administration.
Sanders has recently ramped up a campaign to become
Labor secretary in Biden's Cabinet and has sought the support of top labor leaders, CNN previously reported. In a particularly direct comment to
CNN's Wolf Blitzer earlier this month, the self-described Democratic socialist said he would accept the nomination if it were offered to him. "If I had a portfolio that allowed me to stand up and fight for working families, would I do it? Yes, I would," Sanders said.
Warren has been a progressive favorite to lead the Treasury Department, but CNN reported this week that Biden will choose
Janet Yellen, former chair of the Federal Reserve, as his secretary of the Treasury. Warren praised Yellen as an "outstanding choice for Treasury Secretary" in a tweet on Monday, describing her as "smart, tough, and principled," and "one of the most successful Fed Chairs ever."
President-elect Joe Biden appeared to pour cold water on the idea of nominating Sens. Elizabeth Warren or Bernie Sanders to his Cabinet, suggesting he would instead like to keep them in the US Senate to help him carry out a progressive agenda.
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Hardly a 'puppet' of the good squad, Boomer. Biden is no fool, he is well aware that the radical left in his party need to be held in check lest the party lose further credibility with American voters. Denying Warren the Treasury post she was demanding was just the first shot across the bows of the left's floundering ship.