From Jonathan Bernstein:
In any case, Biden would be fooling himself if he thought that adding a Republican to his administration would buy him goodwill from Republicans in Congress. And any Republican who would be willing to do it would be attacked as a RINO who doesn’t belong in the party in the first place. Nor is it remotely plausible that Republican voters would be more inclined to support Biden because of such a gesture. Even for people who pay close attention to politics, the selection of a Cabinet secretary is a barely noticeable one-day story.
The idea of seeking to build good relations with interest groups is more worthwhile. Most of the task of hiring for the Cabinet and executive branch is about internal party relationships — such as rewarding allies and reassuring groups whose candidate didn’t win the nomination battle.
But even during these polarized times, there are interest groups that are either unaligned with either party, or only loosely aligned. A Trumpist Republican Party has frayed ties with business. While Republicans still offer low taxes, they also have become the party of trade wars, restrictions on immigration, and perhaps even a breakdown in the rule of law, none of which makes the Chamber of Commerce very happy.