Joe Biden Appoints Eric Garcetti Ambassador to India, Gigi Son FCC; The White House is trying to revive blocked earlier decisions

President Joe Biden named Eric Garcetti as US ambassador to India after the former Los Angeles mayor’s nomination failed to pass the Senate last year.

Garcetti was among a number of nominees who will be given a fresh start in the new Congress.

Biden also nominated Gigi Sohn for the FCC’s fifth commissioner. Her nomination stalled after the Senate Commerce Committee stalled. Republicans opposed her selection amid opposition from commentators such as Tucker Carlson and the editors of the Wall Street Journal, while industry lobbyists sought to block her nomination.

The difference for all of Biden’s nominations will be the Democrats’ extended 51-49 majority, assuming Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona consults with the Democrats after changing her membership to an independent. That one vote difference from the 50-50 split last Congress could make it easier to get nominees through committees and to have their say.

Garcetti’s nomination sailed through the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last year. But it was delayed all year when Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) presented a Senate report that, despite the mayor’s testimony of alleged sexual harassment by a former top aide, Rick Jacobs, Garcetti “probably knew or should have known. ” from Los Angeles. denied that he knew of such conduct. The report was prompted by claims by Garcetti’s former communications director, Naomi Seligman, who represented Whistleblower Aid.

Libby Lu, CEO of Whistleblower Aid, said in a statement that Garcetti’s renomination is a “serious disservice to victims and survivors of sexual harassment in the workplace who have documented how, as mayor of Los Angeles, he “continued abuse by his top adviser and then he lied about it under oath at his Senate hearing.

Garcetti claimed he was unaware of the claims against Jacobs, who also denied the allegations of molestation. According to the AP, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters that they “view this as a very important nomination” and that “we hope that the entire Senate will confirm it soon.”

The FCC is tied 2-2 as Sohn’s nomination is pending. This has prevented the FCC from addressing some potentially controversial issues such as net neutrality.

In a statement, FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel said, “Gigi is a well-informed candidate with a long record of addressing the issues before the FCC, and I congratulate her on her appointment as the agency’s commissioner. I look forward to the day when we have a full cast of five commissioners.”

According to the AP, Biden nominated 85 of the 175 people who did not make it through the last convention.