RUTHFULLY YOURS

Joe Biden has begun putting together a transition team, which may decide to circulate the names of some Cabinet nominees before November’s general election.

“I don’t want to say we started thinking about it a month ago, we did, because that sounds like I was certain this was going to happen, that I would be the nominee. I don’t want it to sound like that, but it has to happen, and that’s why the transition team is already being put together,” Biden told about 150 donors during his second virtual fundraiser Thursday.

The presumptive 2020 Democratic presidential nominee’s announcement suggests the two-term vice president and 36-year Delaware senator is looking past his fall fight with President Trump and making tentative preparations for governing.

While Biden declined to say who was in charge of the transition team’s selection, he indicated he was considering elevating some administration roles focused on global health security and pandemics, as well as climate change, to Cabinet-level spots.

“If the Lord Almighty said, ‘Joe, I tell you what. You have to decide in three hours what your Cabinet is, or you’re going to be bounced out of the race,’ I could write down who could be in the Cabinet. There are at least two or three people qualified for every one of those positions,” he said.

Biden, at another online fundraiser this month, said the task could take him 15 minutes. At that event, he told donors he had discussed his potential Cabinet with former Democratic rival Bernie Sanders and his old boss, former President Barack Obama. He also said he had started conversations with a range of people about whether they were willing to join him, seeking those who complemented his knowledge gaps and who “physically look like the country.” He may err toward “younger, really qualified” candidates “to build a bench” of future leaders, according to the pool report.

On Thursday, Biden admitted one advantage to his half-century in politics was that he has met a talented pool of people across both the public and private sectors, including some from the other side of the aisle.

“I have had literally several hundred serious, serious players who have been held positions in every department in the federal government who have said, including some Republicans, who have said, ‘If you win, I want to come back. I’m ready to serve,” he said.

At the same time, Biden is continuing his hunt for a vice presidential nominee, vowing to pick a woman for the role.