Blumenthal and Murphy at Odds on Biden Cabinet.

U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) injected a dose of reality to the complex art of jockeying for a cabinet position in the formation of the Biden administration. The Greenwich Democrat told Politico, “There’s so much talent outside the Senate…This is going to be a really, really challenging two years because President Biden is going to need strong leadership in the Congress. … And I think he’ll prefer to have people he trusts be here.”

Connecticut’s junior senator, Democrat Chris Murphy, disagrees. He says in the same story, “I understand that one or two vacancies can make a difference, but if President-elect Biden thinks there’s someone in the Senate who is going to serve him well and is the clear best choice then he should choose that person…I would hope that Vice President Biden would look to members of Congress to fill out some key slots.”

Murphy was mentioned in Politico stories before last week’s election as a prospect to lead the State Department.

Democrats defeated two Republican Senate incumbents, considerably fewer than expected, last week. They picked up the seat held by Alabama incumbent Democrat Doug Jones. Two Georgia seats held by Republicans will be decided in a January 5th runoff. Democrats will need to win both those to reach 50 seats.

Senate special elections can be unpredictable. Jones scored an upset win in the contest to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Jeff Sessions to become Donald Trumps tormented attorney general. In 2010, Massachusetts Republican Scott Brown won a stunning victory in a winter contest to fill the vacancy created by the death of Senator Edward M. Kennedy.