President Biden is tempering the ambassadorial expectations of his donors with big dollars, signaling that he will not be handing out plum posts for months, indicating that he will nominate fewer of them than his predecessors.
The whole picture: The president embraced the Democratic Party’s pursuit of diversity when he elected his cabinet. Now legislators are pushing him to expand it to his choice of ambassadors, which means that white male donors – the core of his fundraising base – will compete in fierce competition for fewer seats.
What we hear: Biden is likely to reward loyal politicians and former assistants, with talks about former senators like Claire McCaskill on their way to a gilded post in Europe.
- At the forefront of policymakers, Julianne Smith, a former assistant to Biden, could be named ambassador to NATO.
- In the donor class, Denise Bauer, Obama’s ambassador to Belgium, was a top fundraiser. She could return to Europe, possibly Paris, among the most popular positions.
- Doug Hickey, another major Biden donor, is also interested in a foreign job.
- James Costos, a former HBO executive who served as Obama’s ambassador to Spain, has expressed interest in the UK, but many others are interested, including David Cohen, a CEO of Comcast.
- Louis Frillman, a real estate investor, and Nathalie Rayes, president of the Latino Victory Project, told staff they were interested in Madrid or another European post.
The big question: The ambassador to China was recently to former politicians, giving Beijing the prestige of a major brand and the White House the consolation that its envoy will have a political antenna to detect possible problems.
- If Biden nominates Disney CEO Robert Iger, who Biden officials said he was interested in, it would break the mold.
Bidding is scheduled, weather permitting, to visit the State Department on Monday, a symbolic display as he seeks to revitalize diplomacy and emphasize America’s commitment to allies and partners. He is also expected to comment on his foreign policy initiatives.
- Although the president will definitely nominate certain donors to top positions, others are getting nervous that they are being transferred and pushing them feverishly.
- While more than 800 individuals and couples raised more than $ 100,000 for Biden’s presidential bid, the more elite group of “bundlers” raised much more than the amount and also donated the maximum of $ 620,000 to the Biden Victory Fund.
By the numbers: Biden is likely to make non-career nominations for about 30% of the approximately 190 total ambassadorships, which according to the persons are familiar with 70% for the career in the foreign service.
- The 70:30 ratio would be in line with the traditional outline, according to the American Foreign Service Association.
- President Trump has deviated by nominating political ambassadors for about 44% of his appointments.
- Trump’s nominees also skewed strongly non-diverse, with more than 90% of his openings for those white, reports Foreign Policy in 2018.
Go deeper: The political category has always, broadly speaking, been divided into three buckets: policy makers, politicians and donors.
- Biden is expected to pull heavier out of the first two categories, leaving fewer jobs for donors to get a successful business career with a foreign job.
- Biden has an extensive network of Beltway friends and allies, but has never been so successful or reliant on the money and celebrity classes in New York and California.