Biden picks familiar faces for top roles at FEMA, CIA

President-elect Joe Biden is minating New York emergency department commissioner Deanne Criswell to serve as Federal Emergency Manment ncy administrator and has tapped former CIA deputy director David Cohen to return to ncy in same role he served during Obama administration.

picks, along with a trio of or new minations confirmed to Associated Press by Biden team, come as president-elect is putting a premium on experience, and perhaps familiarity, as he looks to fill out top positions at federal ncies with less than a week to go before his inauguration.

Criswell, who also spent more than five years in top posts at FEMA during Obama administration, is first woman minated to head ncy, whose primary responsibility is to coordinate responses to major disasters inside United States that require federal attention. Nancy Ward served as ncy's acting administrator in early months of Obama administration before his pick, Craig Fugate, could be confirmed.

Cohen, who was deputy CIA director from 2015 to 2017, has traveled world for years tracking money flowing to terror groups, such as Islamic State group, and or bad actors on international st. His work directing Treasury Department’s intelligence unit earlier in his career earned him nicknames of “financial batman” and “sanctions guru.”

Last year, Cohen, who has been leading financial and business integrity group at law firm WilmerHale, made a cameo appearance on HBO series “Game of Thrones.” Cohen is t a registered lobbyist, but his firm does millions of dollars in lobbying work each year on behalf of clients that include Beer Institute, Sinclair Broadcast Group, Walgreens and American Financial Group.

president-elect is also minating Shalanda Young, top staff aide for House Appropriations Committee, to serve as deputy director at Office of Manment and Budget and Jason Miller, who was deputy director of White House National Ecomic Council in Obama's administration, to serve as deputy director for manment at ncy.

Young brings a wealth of Capitol Hill experience in budget policy — and politics — to budget office, along with close relationships with powerful House Democrats like Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Miller was steeped in manufacturing policy in Obama administration, including an update of automobile fuel efficiency standards. Biden is tapping Janet McCabe, an environmental law and policy expert who spent more than seven years as a top official at Environmental Protection ncy during Obama administration to return to ncy as deputy administrator.

“Each of m brings a deep respect for civil servants who keep our republic running, as well as a keen understanding of how government can and should work for all Americans,” Biden said of his picks in a statement. “I am confident that y will hit ground running on day one with determination and bold thinking to make a meaningful difference in people’s lives.”

Criswell has served as New York City’s emergency manment commissioner since June 2019. In her earlier work at FEMA, Criswell served as leader of one of ncy’s National Incident Manment Assistance Teams and as a federal coordinating officer. In New York, part of her duties included leading coordination of city’s emergency response to COVID-19 pandemic.

Between her stints at FEMA and in New York, Criswell was a principal at Cadmus Group, a firm that provides homeland security manment consulting and training services for federal, state and local government ncies and private sector companies. company made about $68 million between time she joined firm in 2017 and when she left in June 2019, according to a tabulation of contract spending data from site USASpending.gov.

She also served as head of Office of Emergency Manment for city of Aurora, Colorado. Criswell also served in Colorado Air National Guard, including 21 years as a firefighter and deputy fire chief with deployments to Qatar, Afghanistan and Iraq.

(Im Credit: AP)