President Biden is tempering his donors’ ambassadorial expectations with a big dollar, indicating that he will not be handing out plum items in the coming months and hinting that he will nominate fewer than his predecessors.
The big picture: The president embraced the Democratic Party’s commitment to diversity in choosing his cabinet. Now lawmakers are pressuring him to extend it to the choices of his ambassadors, meaning white male donors – the core of his fundraising base – will seriously compete for fewer places.
What we hearBiden will most likely reward loyal politicians and former aides, talking about former senators like Claire McCaskill heading for a gold-plated post in Europe.
- In terms of policymakers, Julianne Smith, a former Biden assistant, could be nominated as an 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, one of the most coveted positions.
- Doug Hickey, another major donor to Biden, is also interested in a foreign mail.
- James Costos, a former HBO manager who served as Obama’s ambassador to Spain, has expressed an interest in the UK, but many others are interested, including David Cohen, a Comcast manager.
- Louis Frillman, a real estate investor, and Nathalie Rayes, president of the Latino Victory Project, have told employees they are interested in Madrid or another European post.
The big questionAmbassadorship to China has recently gone to former politicians, giving Beijing the prestige of a big name brand and the White House the comfort that its envoy will have a political antenna to track down potential problems.
- If Biden mentions Disney executive chairman Robert Iger, who has told Biden officials he’s interested, that would break that mold.
Biden is scheduled, weather permitting, to visit the State Department Monday, a symbolic display as he seeks to revive diplomacy and underscore America’s commitment to allies and partners. He is also expected to comment on his foreign policy initiatives.
- While the president will certainly name some backers for top positions, others are getting nervous that they will be passed over and feverishly pushing for their cause.
- While more than 800 individuals and couples raised more than $ 100,000 for Biden’s presidential bid, the more elite group of “bundlers” raised well above that amount and also gave the maximum of $ 620,000 to the Biden Victory Fund.
By the numbersBiden is likely to make non-career nominations for about 30% of the roughly 190 total ambassadorships, leaving 70% for the Foreign Service, according to people familiar with the matter.
- According to the American Foreign Service Association, that 70:30 ratio would be consistent with the traditional breakdown.
- President Trump deviated by nominating political ambassadors for about 44% of his appointments.
- Trump’s nominees were also strongly non-diverse, with more than 90% of his openings for whites, Foreign Policy reported in 2018.
Go deeper: The political category is always broadly divided into three categories: policy experts, politicians and donors.
- Biden is expected to draw more from the first two categories, leaving fewer positions for donors looking to end a successful business career with a foreign mail.
- Biden has an extensive network of Beltway friends and allies, but has never been more successful – or dependent – on the money and celebrity classes in New York and California.