Heres who could serve in top roles in the Biden administration

President-elect Joe Biden is beginning to announce the men and women who will serve in top roles in his administration.

Biden announced on December 7 key members of his health team who will lead the administration's response to the coronavirus pandemic, including California Attorney General Xavier Becerra as his nominee for Health and Human Services secretary and Dr. Vivek Murthy as his nominee for US surgeon general.

On November 30, Biden announced several top posts for his economic team, including Janet Yellen as treasury secretary. He also named Cecilia Rouse to chair the Council of Economic Advisers and Neera Tanden to become director of the Office of Management and Budget.

The week prior, Biden announced several key members of his foreign policy and national security teams. He named Antony Blinken as his choice for secretary of state, Alejandro Mayorkas as secretary of homeland security, Avril Haines as director of national intelligence, Linda Thomas-Greenfield as US ambassador to the United Nations, Jake Sullivan as national security adviser and John Kerry as special presidential envoy for climate.

He had already announced that Ron Klain, one of his most trusted campaign advisers, will serve as his incoming chief of staff. And Jen O'Malley Dillon, Biden's campaign manager, and Rep. Cedric Richmond of Louisiana, a co-chair of Biden's transition team and presidential campaign, will serve in top roles in the White House.

Each of Biden's Cabinet nominees will need to be confirmed by the US Senate, which is currently controlled by Republicans. Two runoff elections in Georgia on January 5 could determine which party controls the chamber and impact the Cabinet confirmation process.

The Cabinet includes the vice president and the heads of 15 executive departments: Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Justice, Labor, State, Transportation, Treasury and Veterans Affairs.

Several key positions also have Cabinet-level rank: White House chief of staff, Environmental Protection Agency administrator, Office of Management & Budget director, United States Trade Representative ambassador, Council of Economic Advisers chairman and Small Business Administration administrator.

This list will be updated based on conversations with Biden allies and advisers and Democrats with knowledge of the matter.

Here's who has been mentioned in conversations about potential top roles in the Biden administration:

Secretary of State
Antony Blinken (announced November 23)

Blinken served in the Obama administration as the deputy secretary of state, assistant to the president and principal deputy national security adviser. He served as the national security adviser to then-Vice President Biden and deputy assistant to the president during Obama's first term. He has been a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and the Democratic staff director at the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.

During the Clinton administration, Blinken served as a member of the National Security Council staff at the White House, and held roles as the special assistant to the president, senior director for European affairs, and senior director for speechwriting and then strategic planning. He was Clinton's chief foreign policy speechwriter. Blinken was also being considered as national security adviser.

Previously under consideration:
Chris Coons

Coons currently occupies the same Delaware Senate seat that Biden held for decades. A longtime Biden ally, Coons was one of the first members of Congress to endorse the former vice president when he declared his 2020 presidential candidacy. Coons sits on the following committees in the Senate: Foreign Relations, Appropriations, Judiciary, Small Business & Entrepreneurship and Select Committee on Ethics. Throughout his Senate career, Coons has been known for working across the aisle and forging strong relationships with high-profile Republicans who shared common interests.

Susan Rice

Rice served in the Obama administration as UN ambassador and national security adviser. She served in Clinton's administration as the special assistant to the president and senior director for African affairs at the White House, the assistant secretary for the Bureau of African Affairs at the State Department and the director of international organizations and peacekeeping at the National Security Council. Rice was one of a handful of women on Biden's shortlist for a running mate.

Rice at one point was thought to be the clear choice to succeed Hillary Clinton as secretary of state, but in 2012 withdrew her name from consideration to avoid a bitter Senate confirmation battle. Rice was the target of Republican criticism after comments she made on Sunday morning TV shows defending the Obama administration's handling of the September 11, 2012, attacks on the Benghazi consulate that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans.

Secretary of the Treasury
Janet Yellen (announced November 30)

Yellen would make history as the first woman to serve as Treasury secretary if confirmed by the Senate. Yellen already made history as the first woman to have chaired the Federal Reserve, and did so from 2014 to 2018. She previously served for four years as the vice chair of the board, and president and chief executive officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco for four years prior to that. Yellen was also chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers from 1997 to 1999.

Previously under consideration:
Lael Brainard

Brainard currently serves as a member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. She previously served as the Under Secretary of the US Department of the Treasury and counselor to the secretary of the Treasury during the Obama administration. Brainard was the US representative to the G-20 Finance Deputies and G-7 Deputies and was a member of the Financial Stability Board. During the Clinton administration, Brainard served as the deputy national economic adviser and deputy assistant to the President. She also served as Clinton's personal representative to the G-7/G-8.

If chosen, the Federal Reserve governor would be the first woman to hold the powerful position. Brainard is not quite a consensus pick. Party progressives have other favorites, but neither would her nomination set off the kind of internal ideological war the incoming administration surely wants to avoid.

Sarah Bloom Raskin

Raskin was the deputy secretary of the US Department of the Treasury during the Obama administration. She was previously a governor of the Federal Reserve Board. Prior to joining the Federal Reserve Board, Raskin was the commissioner of financial regulation for the state of Maryland.

Outside of Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Raskin, a former deputy secretary at the department, would be the top choice for most progressives. That she is less well known to the wider political world could also work in favor.

Deputy Treasury Secretary
Adewale "Wally" Adeyemo (announced November 30)

Adeyemo would be the first Black deputy Treasury secretary. Adeyemo currently serves as the president of the Obama Foundation. Adeyemo served during the Obama administration as the President's senior international economic adviser, and also served as deputy national security adviser, deputy director of the National Economic Council, the first chief of staff of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and senior adviser and deputy chief of staff at the Department of the Treasury.

Secretary of Defense
Lloyd Austin (announced December 8)

Austin is a retired Army general and is the former commander of the US Central Command. If confirmed by the Senate, Austin would make history as the first Black person to lead the Pentagon. Austin has worked closely with Biden in the past. While Biden was vice president, Austin served as the vice chief of staff of the Army and commanding general of US forces in Iraq, and later the commander of CENTCOM. Biden and Austin had discussions on a range of issues, including those in the Middle East and Central and South Asia. Austin would need a congressional waiver to be confirmed for the civilian post because federal law requires seven years of retirement from active duty before taking on the role. Austin retired from active-duty service only four years ago.

Previously under consideration:
Tammy Duckworth

Duckworth is the junior senator from Illinois. An Iraq war veteran, Duckworth was the first Thai-American woman elected to Congress, the first female double-amputee in the US Senate and the first senator to give birth while in office.
Duckworth was appointed by then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich to head the Illinois Department of Veterans' Affairs after running for Congress unsuccessfully in 2006. She served in the position for three years, and then in 2009, then-President Barack Obama appointed Duckworth as the assistant secretary of the US Department of Veterans Affairs.