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Scoop: Biden finalizes list of nominees for key ambassadorships

19 March 2021
Dan Ackermann

President Biden is reviewing a list of finalists as he prepares to nominate a series of ambassadors to key embassy postings, people familiar with the matter tell Axios.

Why it matters: The new president has promised to restore alliances and put diplomacy at the center of his foreign policy, with his ambassadors playing a crucial role in listening to host governments and explaining the administration’s policies.

  • It's unclear which posts are on the first list of nominees, but London, Paris and Rome are the most coveted in Western Europe, with postings in China and Japan having the most foreign policy implications.
  • Some final decisions, and announcements, could come as soon as April.
  • The list Biden is considering isn’t exhaustive and doesn’t include all the available openings.
  • Steve Ricchetti, counselor to the president, and Cathy Russell, director of the Office of Presidential Personnel, are shepherding the process.

The big picture: Biden officials have been tempering expectations among his big-dollar donors, suggesting the president will nominate fewer of them to coveted positions.

  • Wealthy donors are getting nervous they may have already been passed over.
  • Biden will likely draw on so-called political ambassadors — including allies and financial backers — for roughly 30% of the openings.
  • The remaining 70% would go to career Foreign Service Officers.
  • President Trump selected political ambassadors for 44% of his total appointments — higher than the recent 30% norm.

What we are watching: Will Biden choose a bold-face name who made a career in business or politics for his China post?

  • Or will he draw on someone with more diplomatic experience — like Nick Burns, a former undersecretary of state for political affairs — to rely on their technical skills?
  • Biden officials also have weighed prominent Republicans — including Cindy McCain and former Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) — to highlight the importance of bipartisanship in U.S. foreign policy, Axios reported last month.
  • Richard Blum, the husband of Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), has expressed interest in a foreign posting, the New York Times reported.

Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times

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Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.

Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.

The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.

  • The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.

What the transcripts say:

  • Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
  • The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
  • Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."

Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.