Biden hints Sanders, Warren won't join his Cabinet despite push from progressives

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Biden Cabinet picks want reversal of Trump's 'America First' policies

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President-elect Joe Biden indicated on Tuesday that he wanted to keep some of his former progressive rivals in the Senate, further diminishing the chances of Elizabeth Warren or Bernie Sanders joining his Cabinet. 

Speaking with NBC News' Lester Holt in his first interview since the Nov. 3 election, Biden said the two progressive senators – who ran their own unsuccessful campaigns for president – were key to helping pass his "very ambitious, very progressive agenda." 

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“We already have significant representation among progressives in our administration," Biden said. "There's nothing really off the table. But there's something critical: Taking someone out of the Senate, taking someone out of the House, particularly a person of consequence, is really a difficult decision that would have to be made."

He continued: "I have a very ambitious, very progressive agenda. And it’s gonna take really strong leaders in the House and Senate to get it done.”

Biden has unveiled a spate of Cabinet picks over the past few days, Washington veterans with ties to former President Barack Obama's administration. If confirmed to their new positions, many of Biden's nominees would break gender and racial barriers.

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The president-elect's team includes Antony Blinken, a veteran foreign policy adviser, for secretary of State; Ron Klain for chief of staff; and former Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen for Treasury secretary — a position that many Warren allies believed should go to the Massachusetts senator. (Warren called Yellen an "outstanding choice.") 

Still, Biden pushed back on criticism that his administration would be a "third Obama term." 

"This is not a third Obama term," he said. "Because we face a totally different world than we faced in the Obama-Biden administration. President Trump has changed the landscape. It's become America first, America alone." 

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He also acknowledged that he was open to appointing Republicans – some of whom may have voted for President Trump – to his administration as a way to unify the country.

"We still have a lot more appointments to make," he said. "I want this country to be united ... We can't keep this virulent political dialogue going."