Which Republican Might Join a Harris Cabinet? We Asked Around.

In a text message, Mitt Romney sounded down on the idea. John Bolton said his chances were “substantially less than zero.” Liz Cheney remained silent on the matter.

The only real way Vice President Kamala Harris has said her administration would be different from President Biden’s is that she would appoint a Republican to her cabinet.

This did not used to be unusual or controversial. Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama each put members of the opposite party in their cabinets. Donald J. Trump let the tradition lapse, though he tried to recruit Senator Heidi Heitkamp, a North Dakota Democrat (and have her be replaced by a Republican in the Senate). No Republicans were known to be in serious consideration for President Biden’s cabinet four years ago.

Yet Ms. Harris has promised to bring back the symbolic gesture, as she campaigns alongside former Representative Liz Cheney of Wyoming and makes a play for moderate G.O.P. voters.

The vice president has declined to engage in speculation about which Republican she would choose. “I’ve got to win,” she told Howard Stern when he suggested that Ms. Cheney might be the pick. “But the thing about Liz Cheney, let me just say, she’s remarkable.”

With Ms. Harris naturally holding her cards close, we asked a range of Republican options about their interest level. It is generally considered bad manners to publicly audition for a cabinet post, especially before an election is decided, so many of them demurred or proposed others as better choices.

Here’s a look at several types of Republicans whom Ms. Harris could pick.

Republicans who became liberal stars for opposing Trump

Ms. Cheney, who was functionally exiled by her party after helping lead the House investigation into the Capitol riot, is the biggest Republican name on the potential list. The Harris campaign viewed her endorsement as significant in its effort to win over conservative women in the suburbs who do not like Mr. Trump but are not sold on Ms. Harris.

Ms. Cheney’s spokesman declined to comment and pointed to a September interview she gave at the Texas Tribune Festival in which she said she was “not focused” on a potential Harris administration post. Since then, she has stumped with Ms. Harris and appeared in the campaign’s advertisements.

Ms. Harris has also elevated other like-minded, anti-Trump Republicans. Adam Kinzinger, the former Illinois congressman who served with Ms. Cheney on the House Jan. 6 committee, received a speaking slot at the Democratic National Convention. Former Representative Denver Riggleman, a Virginia Republican, has appeared at campaign events as well.

Republicans who say they will not vote for Trump

Senators Mitt Romney of Utah and Todd Young of Indiana, in addition to a few other Republican senators, have said they will not vote for Mr. Trump. Former Govs. Chris Christie of New Jersey and Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas, who ran for this year’s Republican presidential nomination, have each said they will not back him, either.

These Republicans have not said publicly that they will vote for Ms. Harris, either, though that is not always a requirement to join a cabinet. After Mr. Obama won in 2008, he chose Ray LaHood, then a Republican congressman from Illinois, to be his transportation secretary — even though Mr. LaHood had served as a delegate for John McCain at that year’s G.O.P. convention.

This time around, Mr. LaHood said, “I would think they would look for someone with some experience having served in Congress.”

Mr. Romney, who is not seeking re-election to the Senate this year, has been perhaps the most vocal about being dissatisfied with the choices for president. In a text message, he sounded dour about political fights to come.

“Whichever person wins, they will say they have a mandate to carry out their agenda,” Mr. Romney said. “Baloney. The election will be razor close — half the country wants Trump policies, the other half wants Harris policies. That is the opposite of a mandate. Whichever candidate is elected should recognize that the real mandate is to work for common ground, favored by both sides. As for either of their cabinet members, I’ll leave that to them.”

Republican senators

Some Harris supporters have floated a fantasy scenario in which she wins, Republicans capture 51 seats in the Senate and a G.O.P. senator in a state with a Democratic governor takes a cabinet post, allowing the governor to appoint a replacement. The Senate would be split evenly, with Vice President Tim Walz casting tiebreaking votes.

“She could ask Susan Collins,” said former Representative Barbara Comstock, a Virginia Republican who campaigned with Ms. Harris last week in Pennsylvania. “She’d be awesome. You know, then she wouldn’t have to deal with MAGA in 2026.”

A spokeswoman for Ms. Collins, who is up for re-election in two years, did not respond to messages.

Ms. Collins, a moderate who occasionally broke with Mr. Trump when he was president, is not the only Republican senator who could be replaced by a Democratic governor. But she is the only one whose politics could plausibly put her on the radar.

“I would be surprised if any sitting Republican senators would be interested,” said former Senator Patrick J. Toomey, a Pennsylvania Republican who has said he will not vote for Mr. Trump or Ms. Harris. “I’m sure there are Republican former officeholders, who don’t plan to run again, who would be willing.”

Mr. Toomey said he did not count himself among those interested. “It’s not something I would consider,” he said. “My policy differences with Kamala Harris are far too many and too big.”

Republicans who served in the Biden and Obama administrations

These are Republicans who are already on board with working for a Democratic president. Mr. Biden named Jeff Flake, a former Arizona senator, to be his ambassador to Turkey. Cindy McCain, Meg Whitman and John J. Sullivan have served as ambassadors, and Michael B. Donley is a Pentagon official who served as Air Force secretary in the Obama and George W. Bush administrations.

Jon Huntsman Jr., the former Utah governor, was Mr. Obama’s ambassador to China before he sought the 2012 Republican presidential nomination to run against him. Robert M. Gates and Chuck Hagel both served as defense secretary under Mr. Obama.

Mr. Flake, who left his post in Turkey this summer, has formally endorsed Ms. Harris. He said he had not discussed joining her potential administration.

“I was happy to see her commitment, but I’ve had no discussions in this regard,” he said. “There are many more qualified Republicans out there.”

Republicans who have been cast out of the party by Trump

This is a list too long for one story. It includes Jeb Bush and Carly Fiorina, who lost to Mr. Trump in the 2016 Republican presidential primary race; Paul D. Ryan, the former House speaker; an array of former Trump administration officials; onetime members of Congress; and other elected officials who broke with Mr. Trump.

Former Gov. John Kasich of Ohio, who also lost to Mr. Trump in the 2016 primary, endorsed Mr. Biden in 2020 and had a brief speaking role during that year’s virtual Democratic convention.

Most of these people would probably have trouble endorsing enough of Ms. Harris’s policies to be picked or to accept a nomination. Former Vice President Mike Pence and others are too staunchly opposed to abortion rights to figure in any serious Harris cabinet discussion. John Bolton’s foreign policy does not mesh much with what Ms. Harris has professed.

“I have no idea who she might pick,” said Mr. Bolton, who revealed in April that his presidential vote would be a write-in for former Vice President Dick Cheney — who has also endorsed Ms. Harris. “And the chances she would call me are substantially less than zero.”