By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

President-elect Joe Biden has finished his first key test of governing.

He has selected the men and women who will serve with him in the executive branch of the federal government he will lead beginning Jan. 20. I believe he has selected an impressive array of talented individuals to help him implement public policy on behalf of the people who have elected him.

But wait! There’s a name missing from the roster of Cabinet-level nominees I was sure I would see: Jim Clyburn.

You remember Rep. Clyburn, correct? Clyburn’s endorsement of then-Democratic candidate Biden prior to the South Carolina primary this past spring propelled Biden to an easy victory in that contest. Biden’s primary campaign had faltered in Iowa, in New Hampshire and in Nevada. Biden was given up as political road kill.

South Carolina — with its enormous African-American voting bloc — loomed just ahead. Biden told us he would win that primary. He needed help. U.S. Rep. Clyburn delivered it with his endorsement.

Biden won the Palmetto State and never looked back.

I was certain Jim Clyburn could have virtually any job in a Biden administration he would want. It might be that the president-elect asked him and Clyburn declined. It might be that Clyburn, one of the House of Representatives’ senior members, wanted to stay put and help guide President Biden’s legislative agenda through the House’s legislative labyrinth.

Surely, the president-elect with vast knowledge of the importance of political alliances would not simply pass over someone who in this political climate and in the context of the campaign that Joe Biden won personifies the definition of “kingmaker.”

I am pretty sure if nothing else that Joe and Jill Biden will put Rep. Clyburn on their Christmas card mailing list.