News: The post-Biden job scramble begins

Monday, December 16, 2024

The post-Biden job scramble begins

Dec 16, 2024

Former President Donald Trump arrives to speak during an election night event.

This frantic job search is playing out behind-the-scenes even as on the surface, the Biden administration is working to convey an orderly last month in office and transition to the new Trump administration. | Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

With help from Daniel Lippman, Jack Detsch, Maggie Miller and Sam Skove

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Resumes are flying around Washington as President JOE BIDEN’s national security team frantically searches for jobs once they’re kicked out of office next month.

Washington’s (in)famous revolving door as political parties trade power is nothing new. But this time around, the job market seems particularly brutal, according to eight people familiar with the job search frenzy, including Biden appointees, State Department and Pentagon officials and congressional aides.

That may be in part because of an apparent surge in career civil servants at the Pentagon, State Department and elsewhere eyeing the exit door — particularly as President-elect DONALD TRUMP and his incoming administration vow to gut the so-called deep state across federal agencies. (NatSec Daily hasn’t been able to get a handle on how many career diplomats or national security staffers are applying for jobs, but anecdotally everyone we spoke to said they know multiple coworkers actively looking to leave the government.)

“There’s a lot of good career people here who went through the first Trump administration and are saying, ‘Can I really go through that again?’” said one Biden appointee at the State Department. NatSec Daily granted the individual — and others — anonymity so they could speak freely about other people’s job prospects. “I can’t blame them, even if it makes my own search harder.”

The top dogs won’t have problems finding cushy landing posts at top law firms, defense contractors or think tanks with vague grandiose titles like “distinguished fellow” or “senior international adviser.”

But it’s a much more high stakes and cutthroat battle for jobs among the rank-and-file appointees in their early- or mid-careers.

It’s a sign of the new MAGA era, marked by growing unease in the national security establishment over what a second Trump term will mean for the U.S. approach to global crises — and whether the president-elect will have the people needed to address them.

Among the most sought-after spots for former Bidenites, these officials said, are on Capitol Hill — at congressional committees or with individual Democrats involved in defense and foreign policy issues.

Three Democratic congressional aides said each of their offices are getting flooded with resumes from administration staffers, even though jobs on the Hill tend to have much lower salaries. “Everyone is willing to take a demotion because there aren’t enough jobs,” said one staffer.

Biden officials are also eyeing influential international consulting firms that already house establishment Democrats like WestExec Advisors or Beacon Global Strategies, or think tanks for coveted senior fellow positions.

“It’s going to be very saturated and crowded and so beggars can’t be choosers, I guess,” said another Biden State Department appointee. “The crazy thing is none of these jobs we’re desperate to get are particularly glamorous, unless you want to go lobby for some autocratic foreign governments that jail journalists and kill dissidents, which I have no interest in doing.”

Wherever they land, a wave of Democratic national security and foreign policy staffers will continue the tradition of patiently treading water for four years until, just maybe, a Democrat can win the presidency again in 2028.

And this scramble on the left mirrors one playing out on the right, as Republican foreign policy experts (at least those not permanently branded as Never Trumpers) frantically vie for posts in the new Trump administration. (Trump just named a top ally and former envoy to Germany, RICHARD GRENELL, as his special envoy for “special missions.”)

“Both sides are racing for jobs here, the big difference being that our side is just battling depression while we update our resumes,” joked a Biden White House official.

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The Inbox

TRUMP BRIEFING: Trump gave a lengthy and free-wheeling press conference from Mar-a-Lago on Monday — his first since winning the presidential election.

On inviting Chinese President XI JINPING to his inauguration, Trump said: “I would say if you'd like to come, I would love to have him” and added: “He's an amazing guy. The press hates when I say that but he's an amazing person.” (Trump said his team hasn’t heard back yet on whether Xi plans to attend on Jan. 20.)

On Syria, Trump appeared to both criticize and compliment Turkey for helping orchestrate the ouster of BASHAR AL-ASSAD from power, saying Turkey was “very smart” but did an “unfriendly takeover” of Syria (an apparent reference to the proxy militia groups Turkey backs that led the offensive that toppled Assad.) He also called Assad “a butcher.”

A reporter asked Trump if he would try to get Russia to give up the deposed Syrian leader, who fled to Moscow. Trump’s response: “I haven't thought about it. I think we have to get on with our lives.”

On his conversations with Israeli Prime Minister BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, Trump said: “I think the Middle East is, we will be in a good place. More difficult is going to be the Russia-Ukraine situation.”

And on that war in Ukraine, Trump criticized the Biden administration’s decision to allow Kyiv to fire U.S.-made missiles into Russian territory.

“I don't think they should have allowed missiles to be shot 200 miles into Russia. I think that was a bad thing. That brought the Koreans in, North Korea. None of them — and I get along with [them] very well. I'm the only one that does. That did a lot of bad things. I don't think that should've been allowed,” he said.

AND ABOUT THOSE DRONES… Trump claimed in the press briefing that “the government knows what is happening” with the recent spate of mysterious drone sightings across the mid-Atlantic.

But as our own SAM SKOVE writes in, federal agencies say they have no idea what’s behind the drone flights. They counseled in a Saturday press briefing that many reported instances are misidentified airplanes. The drones are not being flown by a foreign state and are not a threat, the officials added.

Sen. Chuck Schumer on Sunday called for DHS to deploy a “Robin” radar drone detection system to New York and New Jersey, likely referring to equipment that the Department of Homeland Security has deployed previously. That same day, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said that “federal partners” would be sending an advanced drone detection system to her state.

FIRST NORTH KOREAN CASUALTIES: Ukraine has claimed that dozens of North Korean troops were killed or wounded in fighting in Russia’s Kursk region over the weekend — the first reported casualties since North Korea dispatched troops to aid Moscow’s war in Ukraine.

Some 30 North Korean troops were killed or wounded in three villages in the Kursk region, according to Ukraine’s military intelligence agency. The Russian government has yet to comment on the claims.

The Pentagon first announced in October that North Korea was sending some 10,000 troops to Russia to shore up the Kremlin’s struggling war efforts.

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Transition 2024

PREPARE FOR LANDING: For the true natsec junkies who know personnel is policy, we’ve got a lot of scoopy transition news today.

So read on for a jam-packed list of names you might see in senior posts in the next administration. Without further ado …

FIRST IN NATSEC DAILY — JOEL RAYBURN and MORGAN ORTAGUS are being considered for the State Department’s top Middle East envoy post, four people close to the transition told our DANIEL LIPPMAN, MAGGIE MILLER and your host.

One of these people said Rayburn is considered the frontrunner for the assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs job. Rayburn was senior director for Iran, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon at the National Security Council at the start of the Trump administration before becoming deputy assistant secretary for Levant affairs and special envoy for Syria. He is now founder and director of the American Center for Levant Studies and a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute.

Ortagus, who is also being considered for other jobs across the incoming administration including the U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia post, was the spokesperson for the State Department and is the founder of the POLARIS National Security conservative advocacy group.

Rayburn didn’t respond to a request for comment while Ortagus declined to comment. A transition spokesperson declined to comment when asked specifically about Rayburn and Ortagus.

FIRST IN NATSEC DAILY — EZRA COHEN, who served as acting under secretary of Defense for intelligence and security in the last Trump administration, is being considered again for the same job but wants to be Senate-confirmed this time, three people close to the transition told Daniel. He is pushing hard for the job, according to the people.

A few weeks after Jan. 6, Cohen, who also served at the NSC early on in the Trump administration, criticized the events that occurred, telling POLITICO, “The country deserved better on Jan. 6 — what transpired was appalling and completely at odds with our democratic principles.” He also discussed how he had tried for years to beat back the internet rumors that he was behind the QAnon theory.

After leaving the administration, Cohen joined Oracle and is also a member of the Public Interest Declassification Board.

He didn’t respond to a request for comment, and a transition spokesperson declined to comment about Cohen.

AT STATE: Meanwhile, the State Department is getting its own Trump landing team beginning this week, three officials familiar with the matter confirm to Maggie and your host.

Those leading the team include CART WEILAND, a Republican staffer on the House Foreign Affairs Committee and MIKE NEEDHAM, a former chief of staff for Sen. MARCO RUBIO (R-Fla.), Trump’s secretary of State pick. Also on the team are other current and former Republican Congressional aides and first Trump term staffers including ANA QUINTANA, TYLER BRACE, LARA CROUCH and JOHN ZADROZNY.

The transition team for State is being led by STEVE MULL, a senior career diplomat who served as ambassador to Poland and Lithuania. Fellow career diplomat DEMIAN SMITH is deputy transition coordinator.

BRIAN HUGHES, a spokesperson for the Trump transition, didn’t respond to a request for comment on the State Department landing team specifically, instead saying that the “White House is receiving landing team names. Some teams have begun connecting with their counterparts at agencies.” The State Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

AT THE PENTAGON: Across the Potomac, Trump’s landing team is set to arrive at DOD today and is being led by MICHAEL DUFFEY, a former deputy chief of staff at the agency during the president-elect’s first term, our own JACK DETSCH, JOE GOULD and Daniel report (for Pros!).

Others on Trump’s Pentagon landing team include former Pentagon official RALPH CACCI; House Speaker Mike Johnson’s legislative director JAY HURST; DANE HUGHES, who serves as a staffer on the House Armed Services Committee; former acting Army general counsel EARL GUY MATTHEWS; and House Judiciary Committee staffer and former White House Office of Presidential Personnel official JIMMY SAPP.

BRYN WOOLLACOTT, a national security adviser to Rep. KEN CALVERT (R-Calif.) is also on the list, as is THOMAS DINANNO, a former assistant secretary of State for arms control, verification and compliance during the first Trump administration.

JOHN TROUP HEMENWAY, a former White House personnel office staffer, BRADLEY HANSELL, a former National Security Council director, and GREGORY HALSTED PEJIC are also on the list of those who arrive at the Pentagon on Monday.

Former Veterans Affairs’ Secretary ROBERT WILKIE said in an interview on Sunday he is still leading Trump’s policy implementation teams for the Pentagon and Veterans Affairs that are working outside of the building.

AND OVER AT HOMELAND SECURITY: The Trump transition landing team for the Department of Homeland Security started work today, working to shepard in new Trump policies for a range of key agencies, our own BETSY WOODRUFF SWAN and JOHN SAKELLARIADIS report.

According to three people familiar with the details, the transition team is being led by ROBERT LAW, a former top official at Citizenship and Immigration Services during Trump’s first term. Other officials on the team include KAREN EVANS, a former top cyber official at the Department of Energy under Trump. Evans is focusing on DHS’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.

Other team members include JON FEERE, a senior official at Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Trump’s first term; JOHN ZADROZNY, also a former USCIS official; and JOE EDLOW, acting head of USCIS during the Trump administration.

Keystrokes

A CYBER PUNCH BACK — Three leading House Republicans are calling for Trump to pursue offensive cyber measures against China next year in retaliation for the recent intrusions into U.S. telecom systems by Chinese hackers, our own MAGGIE MILLER reports (for Pros!).

House Homeland Security Chair MARK GREEN (R-Tenn.) and Select House Committee on China Chair JOHN MOOLENAAR (R-Mich.) penned a joint op-ed for Fox News today calling for Trump to “hit back hard” against China for the efforts, which have involved hacking group Salt Typhoon compromising wide swaths of American phones.

“The president should give our government cyber operators greater latitude to conduct offensive operations,” the lawmakers wrote.

ON THE HILL

MCCONNELL’S WARNINGS: Senate Minority Leader MITCH McCONNELL issued a new rebuke of Trump and the MAGA wing of his party for their “right-wing flirtation with isolation and decline,” as our own CONNOR O’BRIEN and JOE GOULD report.

McConnell wrote an op-ed in Foreign Affairs today urging his party not to retreat from U.S. commitments to NATO and Ukraine and other important foreign allies. McConnell’s essay previews a new fight to come in the GOP over how the party views America’s role in the world once Trump takes office next month.

TROUBLE FOR HFAC: Democrats on the House Foreign Affairs Committee are dismayed by the pick of Rep. BRIAN MAST (R-Fla.) to be the next committee chair, as our own ERIC BAZAIL-EIMIL reported over the weekend.

Mast is seen as a much more hardline MAGA acolyte than other Republican lawmakers who were in the running to take the committee’s influential gavel, having opposed further U.S. aid to Ukraine and voted in favor of ending U.S. support for NATO in a resolution sponsored by Rep. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R-Ga.). (That resolution failed.)

In an interview, Mast said “America First should be the most bipartisan thing we can do.” Mast said the key question should be how to implement that America-First approach in foreign policy.

Transitions

— ABBEY OVERLAND is joining the Alpine Group as VP. She most recently was an in-house lobbyist at Palantir Technologies and Ursa Major, and is a Joni Ernst and Defense Department alum.

— ALLISON APRAHAMIAN will be press secretary for incoming Senate Foreign Relations Chair JIM RISCH (R-Idaho). She previously was comms director for the House China Select committee.

— DANIEL HENKE is now senior donor manager for U.S. strategy at Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. He previously was director of U.S. government relations at the One Campaign.

What to Read

— GALIT ALSTEIN, Bloomberg: Netanyahu tries again to boost his power after military wins

— NATASHA BAJEMA, Foreign Policy: Rewriting the rules of submarine stealth

— NECTAR GAN, CNN: Xi brought down powerful rivals in the military. Now he’s going after his own men

Tomorrow Today

— Center for Strategic and International Studies, 9 a.m.: Celebrating the U.S. Space Force and charting its future

— Hudson Institute, 10 a.m.: Homeland security and the China challenge: A conversation with Congressman MIKE GREEN

— Atlantic Council, 11 a.m.: The reluctant consensus: War and Russia’s public opinion

Thanks to our editor, Heidi Vogt, who is sabotaging our efforts to leave her administration.

Thanks to our producer, Raymond Rapada, who will always be a distinguished fellow in our hearts.

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