Joe Biden nominates a diverse Cabinet for a new beginning

Kamala Harris is probably the best-known face in the new administration after Joe Biden himself. Her mother is from India and her father from Jamaica, making her the first Black woman and Asian American woman elected to the post. Harris has made it a goal to fight climate change together with the new president. With her in this picture is Doug Emhoff — the first "second gentleman" in US history.

Rachel Levine is probably the least-known new face nominated to the Cabinet. She would be the first openly transgender US federal official to be confirmed by the Senate. She is a professor of pediatrics and psychiatry. Biden will be relying on Levine's medical expertise in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

The California attorney general was picked to head the Health Department during a global health crisis that has hit the US particularly hard. Becerra helped pass the Affordable Care Act when he sat in Congress. If confirmed by the Senate, he would be the first Latino secretary of health and human services.

Biden's nominee for this top position would be the first woman to serve as treasury secretary if confirmed. Yellen served on the policymaking committee of the Federal Reserve during the 2008 financial crisis and advised Bill Clinton. She would be taking the reins during one of the worst economic crises in US history.

If confirmed, Austin, 67, a retired four-star general, will be the first Black person to head the Pentagon. Because he has so recently been an active military officer, he would require a congressional waiver to be confirmed. Austin held a series of prominent roles in the US Army and worked with Obama during the withdrawal from Iraq.

Debra Haaland could be the first Native American member of a US Cabinet. She is a lawyer and a congressional representative from the state of New Mexico. She would have oversight of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and would have key input on decisions on compensation for the historical expropriation of land from Indigenous peoples.

Michael Regan is the designated administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. If confirmed, he would be the first Black man to head the EPA. In the United States, communities of color tend to experience some of the worst effects of pollution and environmental catastrophe and neglect.

If confirmed, Pete Buttigieg would be the first openly gay Cabinet member. He ran against Biden and Harris to become the Democratic presidential candidate in 2020. He is in favor of legalizing marijuana and of removing restrictions for abortion. But in his campaign he opposed free university study, a policy proposal popular with many fellow Democrats.

The Cuban-American headed Citizenship and Immigration Services under Obama. He led the implementation of the DACA program that allowed so-called Dreamers, who were brought to the US illegally as children, to stay in the country. If confirmed, he would become the first immigrant and Hispanic to head the Department of Homeland Security.

Katherine Tai would be the first Asian American US trade representative. She speaks fluent Mandarin, which could prove to be an invaluable asset in what is likely to be Biden's greatest challenge on the trade front: economic relations with China.

The nominee for education secretary, Miguel Cardona, was born in Connecticut to Puerto Rican parents. He is a former primary school teacher. Biden had promised to appoint a teacher as education secretary.