Former Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti was confirmed as the next US Ambassador to India on Wednesday, 20 months after he was originally selected for the job and amid fallout from a sexual harassment scandal involving a former councilor during his term as mayor.
The nomination passed a key test vote early Wednesday in the Democratic-controlled Senate, 52-42. The vote was held with some suspense, as it was unclear whether the progressive Democrat had enough support to move forward. But he managed to convince a handful of Republican senators to obtain the necessary votes.
A final vote took place later Wednesday.
“The relationship between the United States and India is extremely important, and it’s great that we now have an ambassador,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y.
The nomination for the top diplomatic post has languished in the Senate for 20 months, after it was first nominated by President Joe Biden in July 2021.
The vacancy for the ambassadorship has left an important diplomatic corner for the administration at a time of rising global tensions, including China’s growing presence in the Pacific region and Russia’s war with the United States. Ukraine.
The nomination was full of questions about what and when the former mayor knew about the sexual harassment allegations against his close friend and adviser, Rick Jacobs. A lawsuit alleges that Jacobs frequently harassed one of the then-mayor’s police bodyguards, while Garcetti either ignored the abuse or laughed it off.
Garcetti has repeatedly denied these allegations.
Wednesday’s vote tested Democrats’ loyalty to Biden and also weighed assessments of Garcetti’s trial and the reliability stemming from City Council’s allegations.
“I think we can find someone to do the job better,” said Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio.
Garcetti also failed to convince Democrat Mark Kelly of Arizona, who said he had “serious concerns.”
But Republicans stepped in to fill the void in the test ballot, all but ensuring his confirmation.
Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine said, “I met him personally. He clearly has a huge experience of India. India has been without an ambassador for two years, and that’s too long. And I will support him.”
Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., who endorsed Garcetti in a committee vote, said he, too, would vote in favor.
“It is a national security imperative to have an ambassador in India immediately. We cannot afford to wait any longer,” Young said.
Rachel Rizzo, nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, said she was frustrated by the absence of an ambassador during a recent trip to India. She said that “it makes the relationship seem unimportant”.
“It really highlights the internal dysfunction in the US Congress right now, and it’s very difficult for us to send the messages that we’re trying to send when it seems to our diplomatic partners that we don’t have our home in it. order,” he said.
“I think it has been a problem in recent years”