Deliberation in the Cabinet

In his memoir, Seeking Bipartisanship, former Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood writes of the absence of deliberation in the Obama cabinet:

During my time in the Obama administration, I never attended a Cabinet meeting during which a meaningful decision was reached about important issues. It was all for show. As far as I could tell, our discussions changed not a single mind on policy questions or administration strategy. The meetings simply allowed the president to announce that he had consulted his Cabinet about decisions he and his advisers had already made.