Janet Yellen set to become the first woman to head US treasury department

Yellen will become the first woman to head the treasury department - she was the first woman to head the US Fed

President-elect Joe Biden will name Janet Louise Yellen, the former chair of the US Federal Reserve, as his treasury secretary, adding another historic first to his emerging cabinet.

Janet Yellen at a news conference. (REUTERS/ FILE)

Yellen will become the first woman to head the treasury department - she was the first woman to head the US Fed. Yellen served from 2014 to 2018; appointed by Barack Obama and replaced by Donald Trump with Jerome Powell.

Biden’s firsts started with Kamala Harris, who is the first Black, woman, and American of Indian, South Asian and Asian descent to become US vice-president.

Alejandro Mayorkas, a Cuban-American lawyer, will become the first Latino to head the department of homeland security, which runs immigration.

Avril Haines, a former deputy director of the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency), is the first woman named to head the US intelligence community as director of National Intelligence. And John Kerry, the former secretary of state, will be the first special presidential envoy on climate to have a seat at the national security council.

Biden’s incoming National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan is the youngest person named to the position yet, at 43.

The remaining cabinet positions announced so far are Antony Blinken, a close and long-time aide of the president-elect, who will be secretary of state, and Linda Thomas-Greenfield, a 35-year foreign service veteran, who will be the next US ambassador to the UN.