WASHINGTON – Former Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti was confirmed Wednesday by a divided Senate as the nation’s next ambassador to India, greater than a 12 months and a half after he was first nominated by President Joe Biden and after doubts about his truthfulness in harassment were lifted sex scandal involving a city councilor.
The 52-42 vote gave the administration a long-awaited victory, and several other Republicans broke party discipline in what they said was crucial to filling one among the country’s highest diplomatic posts.
“Having an ambassador to India immediately is a national security necessity. We won’t afford to attend any longer,” said Indiana Senator Todd Young, one among the Republican voters.
The day began with uncertain prospects for Garcetti, progressive two-term Democrat, first nominated for diplomatic office by Biden in July 2021.
After the defection of several Democrats, Garcetti’s fate rested with the Republican senators within the chamber often divided along partisan lines.
He won seven GOP votes, good enough to make up for defecting Democrats.
Kansas Republican Roger Marshall said having an ambassador to India was critical to developing relations between members of the “square” – the US, India, Australia and Japan, which he said was putting pressure on China.
“We do not agree on all different policies he pursued as mayor, but I believe he’s person at heart and would make ambassador,” Marshall said. Referring to the allegations, he said: “He answered my questions appropriately.”
On the White House, spokeswoman Olivia Dalton said Biden “believes we now have a vital and consistent partnership with India and that Mayor Garcetti can be a powerful and effective ambassador.”
The emptiness within the post of ambassador has left the administration with a big diplomatic gap in an era of rising global tensions, including China’s increasingly assertive presence within the Pacific region and Russia’s war with Ukraine.
India, the world’s most populous democracy, continues to purchase oil from Russia, while Western governments seek to chop fossil fuel revenues that support Moscow’s budget, its army and its invasion of Ukraine.
Russia also supplies most of India’s military equipment.
The nomination was rife with questions on what and when the previous mayor knew in regards to the sexual harassment allegations of his friend and once close adviser, Rick Jacobs.
The lawsuit alleges that Jacobs continuously harassed one among the then-mayor’s police bodyguards while Garcetti ignored or ridiculed the abuse.
Garcetti, the son of former Los Angeles District Attorney Gil Garcetti, has repeatedly denied the allegations. Jacobs called the allegations against him “pure fiction.”
The case is as a result of go to court later this 12 months.
at Senate committee meeting in December 2021, Garcetti said, “I even have never witnessed the alleged behavior or been dropped at attention. … If that were the case, I’d immediately take motion to forestall it.”
Wednesday’s vote tested Democratic allegiance to Biden as well as gauged Garcetti’s judgment and credibility rankings stemming from allegations at City Hall that followed him through the #MeToo era.
“I believe we will find someone to do the job higher,” said Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio, one among the Democrats who opposed Garcetti.
Garcetti also did not persuade Democrat Mark Kelly of Arizona, who said he had “serious concerns.”
Rachel Rizzo, a senior non-resident member of the Atlantic Council, said she sensed frustration at the dearth of an ambassador on a recent trip to India. She said it “gives the look that the connection is not necessary.”
“This is admittedly indicative of an internal dysfunction within the U.S. Congress right away and makes it very difficult for us to send the messages we’re attempting to send when it looks like our diplomatic partners haven’t got our house in turn,” she said.
Last May, the highest Republican within the Senate released the investigation which implied that Garcetti “probably knew or must have known” that Jacobs had allegedly sexually harassed city employees, which appeared to contradict the mayor’s claim that he was unaware of any misconduct.
A 23-page report released by Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa said it was “extremely unlikely” that the mayor was unaware of this.
The White House called the report partisan slander.
In a last-ditch effort to halt the nomination, Grassley issued an announcement on Tuesday saying his office had identified a minimum of 19 individuals who said they’d either witnessed Jacobs misconduct or had been victims of it.
“On the one hand, the Biden administration claims to support the victims,” Grassley wrote. “Nevertheless, alternatively, the Biden administration supports a candidate who enables misconduct that creates more victims.”
Legal non-profit organization Whistleblower Aid, which sought to reject the nomination, said the vote “can have a chilling effect on future attempts to carry perpetrators and abusers to account and make victims and witnesses think twice in regards to the risks, they take when applying. “
The nomination, first announced in July 2021, was approved by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in January 2022 but not considered by the complete Senate.
Biden re-nominated Garcetti earlier this 12 months, and the White House defended him as a well-qualified candidate.
In a politically divided vote, the committee moved the nomination to the complete Senate again earlier this month, although Jim Risch of Idaho, a number one Republican on the panel, said “latest evidence” solid doubt on Garcetti’s conviction and led him to oppose the nomination.
Garcetti’s confirmation comes after a controversial tenure at Los Angeles City Hall, against a backdrop of rising homelessness, pandemics and high crime rates, as well as sexual harassment and corruption scandals.
The Los Angeles area, once known for limitless growth, has seen its population decline.
Garcetti took office in 2013 with a “back to basics” program that focused on repairing Los Angeles’ notoriously cratered streets and sidewalks.
But those early ambitions faded out-of-control homeless camps transformed the town, then the federal government shut down businesses, restaurants, and classrooms—and worn out a whole bunch of 1000’s of jobs—within the midst of the pandemic.
Despite this, the previous mayor is credited with continuing to construct transit within the traffic-congested city and setting stricter earthquake safety standards for 1000’s of buildings.
An Ivy League member and Rhodes Scholar, he spent 20 years in city government as mayor or city councilman and took a circuitous route towards the diplomatic corps.
Ambassadors are sometimes a reward for political supporters.
Garcetti considered the 2020 White House on the run, but later became a part of Biden’s inner circle, becoming a widely discussed possibility of joining the cupboard.
He backed out of the run after multiple jobs were filled, saying the then-coronavirus crisis prevented him from leaving City Hall.