Axios
Biden lowers expectations for high-dollar donors hoping to get diplomatic posts
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 adopted 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, meaning white male donors – the core of his fundraising base – will be in a tough competition for fewer seats. Get smarter, faster with the news that CEOs, entrepreneurs and top politicians have read. Sign up here for Axios newsletters. What we hear: Biden is likely to reward loyal politicians and former assistants with talks about former senators like Claire McCaskill heading for a gilded post in Europe. * On the policy-making front, Julianne Smith, a former assistant to Biden, can be nominated as 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 chief executive who served as Obama’s ambassador to Spain, has expressed interest in the UK, but many others are interested, including David Cohen, a Comcast executive. * 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 ambassadorship in China recently went to former politicians Beijing is the prestige of a big brand and the White House the consolation that its envoy will have a political antenna to detect possible problems. * If Biden, Disney’s executive chairman, mentions Robert Iger, who Biden officials said he was interested in, it would break the mold. Biden is scheduled to visit the state department on Monday, weather permitting. and emphasizes America’s commitment to allies and partners. He is also expected to comment on his foreign policy initiatives. * While the president will certainly nominate some donors to top positions, others are getting nervous about being transferred and are feverishly pushing their issues. * 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. make non-career nominations for about 30% of the approximately 190 total ambassadorships, and leave 70% after the career of the foreign service, according to people familiar with the matter. * According to the American Foreign Service Association, the 70:30 ratio would be in line with the traditional exposition. * President Trump has deviated by nominating political ambassadors for about 44% of his appointments. * Trump’s nominees have also drawn strong non-divergence, with more than 90% of his openings for those white, Foreign Policy reports in 2018. Going deeper: the political category has always been divided into three buckets: policy experts, 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. Supports safe, smart, sensible journalism. Sign up here for Axios newsletters.