Donald Trump promises to fill the government with ultra-conservatives and sycophants if he is elected president. Joe Biden should make a similar promise to transform the perspectives of the federal government — but based on demographics rather than ideology.
President Biden should promise to fill the roughly 4,000 appointments in government with talented young people who can help shape the future in which they and their children will live. This is the time. The decisions leaders are making today will have unprecedented and permanent consequences for many generations to come.
Take global warming, for example. Scientists say the planet will become virtually unlivable by 2100 if we don’t act now. That’s within the lifespan of babies born today.
As I noted in a previous article, three former leaders in the House of Representatives — Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.)— recognized this and stepped away from their hard-won posts to make way for the next generation.
Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), 76, announced he would not seek reelection because “The times we’re living in really demand the next generation to step up and to express their points of view and to make the decisions that will shape American politics over the coming century. … We’re not the right ones to be making decisions for tomorrow.” He’s correct.
Congress has much more generational shift to do. The Senate got older after the midterm elections last year, while the House got marginally younger, with the median age going down one year from 58.9 to 57.9. But four senators and 11 House members were in their 80s.
With the president’s many appointments, Biden has a unique opportunity if he wins a second term. Young people have given his White House high marks for consulting with them frequently, including bi-weekly listening sessions with the official Biden appointed to lead his collaboration with young voters. In a second term, Biden could go further and appoint young leaders to jobs in federal agencies that most affect the future.
Mid-level positions can be apprenticeships in public service, with veteran careerists serving as mentors. Biden could also expand the Presidential Management Fellows Program, which brings people with advanced degrees into government service for two years.
It looks like the 2024 presidential election will give us a choice between a government filled with people committed to a secure and sustainable future or people committed to political extremism. It’s time to pass the torch, but everything will depend on who receives it.
William S. Becker is co-editor of and a contributor to “Democracy Unchained: How to Rebuild Government for the People,” and contributor to Democracy in a Hotter Time, named by Nature as one of 2023’s five best science books. He is currently executive director of the Presidential Climate Action Project (PCAP), a nonpartisan climate policy think tank unaffiliated with the White House.