U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday renominated Eric Garcetti, the former Mayor of Los Angeles, as his envoy to India, with the White House exuding confidence that he would be confirmed by the United States Senate this time.
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"Eric M. Garcetti, of California, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of India,” the White House said after sending the nomination to the Senate.
Today, the White House will begin renominating candidates who were not confirmed in the last Congress, a media statement said.
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Mr. Garcetti was originally nominated several months after Mr. Biden took office, but he never received a vote of the full Senate. He’s faced accusations of turning a blind eye to misconduct by a top aide in his mayor’s office. Mr. Garcetti has repeatedly denied being aware of the allegations.
"As Secretary (of State, Tony) Blinken said very recently, our relationship with India is crucial and it's consequential,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters at her daily news conference.
"Confirmation of Mayor Garcetti, who was voted out of committee unanimously and with strong bipartisan support to serve as ambassador to India. And that's important as we're talking about bipartisanship, as we're talking how we're going to move forward. And this is what you saw with his particular nomination,” she said.
"So, we see this as he is well qualified, Mayor Garcetti, to serve in this vital role, and we're hopeful that the full Senate will confirm him promptly. Again, he was voted out of committee unanimously with strong bipartisan support,” Ms. Jean-Pierre said.
(With inputs from AP)