Could the Loss of Richardson Allow More Women On the Obama Cabinet?

Published January 04, 2009 @ 01:49PM PT

Take a look at this chart from MSNBC - is there anything wrong here?

At first glance, you see a group of highly qualified people who will be leading the next administration into historic policy decisions such as withdrawing from the Iraq war, changing America's energy future, saving the economy and restructuring the health care system.

However, the Obama Cabinet thus far is lacking at least one thing: gender parity.

Equality prevailed in this election season when America's voters chose an African American man to take an office that up until now, has only been secured by white males. And as the Obama administration assembles it's executive and administrative cabinet appointments, there were hopes that equality would prevail not only in terms of race, but also gender.

However, as of now there are only five women appointed to the 28-Cabinet level positions. And of the big four - the Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Defense, and the Attorney General - only one is a woman.

With the news of Bill Richardson withdrawing from being the Secretary of Commerce, there are now four vacancies left: the Deputy Director of the National Security Agency, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, the administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency - and now, Commerce Secretary.

However, given the current candidates slated to take over the CIA, NSA and FEMA cabinet-level positions, it is becoming less likely to see any change in the number of female faces within the Obama administration compared with President Clinton's female appointees in 1992 or President Bush's in 2000.

But now, with Richardson emptying the seat for Secretary of Commerce it seems only right that Obama consider filling it with a female - if only to defy the odds of those who came before him and represent the sense of equality that made this election so historic in the first place.

Will Obama re-consider Penny Pritzker or Gov. Kathleen Sebelius who were lined up for Commerce Secretary early on? Or will he seek another male or another hispanic to fill Richardson's shoes? What about the CIA, NSA and FEMA - are there women who could take on those cabinet-level administrative positions instead of the men who are currently being considered?

Does Obama still have a chance to bring change to Washington through notable efforts at gender parity within his Cabinet selections?

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Comments (2)

Nonetheless, five women is still much more than previous cabinets. Richardson is hispanic; that's change putting him on, is it not? If Richardson wasn't nominated for S.O.C and instead a woman that would be 6 women and no Hispanics; and Hispanics nowadays represent a great portion of the population. I would rather prefer it be 5 women and 1 Hispanic; eitherway I respect Richardson.

Pritzker wouldn't accept the position even if she was offered it.

Sebelius though, that would almost be an honor to have her as S.O.C. . Although, I can't imagine Kansas giving her up; she's done too much there to leave it behind.

Posted by Dina Yazdani on 01/04/2009 @ 04:43PM PT
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Good points Dina - actually five is on par with Clinton & Bush, just FYI. Also, one of the women, Hilda Solis, is latina - but I see what you're saying about ethnic diversity being just as important as gender diversity.

Posted by Jen Nedeau on 01/04/2009 @ 05:39PM PT
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Author

Jen Nedeau is a social media consultant, progressive activist, feminist speaker and writer. She currently lives in New York City, where she works full-time as the Director of Digital Strategy at Air America Media. In August 2008, Nedeau was selected to be the Editor of the WomensRights.Change.Org where she facilitates daily discussion about the feminist movement. Additionally, Nedeau volunteers as the Chief Technology Officer for New Leaders Council, a non-profit that offers exclusive training for young leaders. You can follow her on Twitter @HumanFolly or learn more here: www.jennedeau.com.