Biden to Announce Nominees for Key Diplomatic Posts

[orangecrush]

Experts and former diplomats want to see Biden pick up the pace on nominations to better compete with China on the world stage.
BY ROBBIE GRAMER, JACK DETSCH | APRIL 15, 2021, 3:37 PM




After nearly three months in office, U.S. President Joe Biden is expected to announce a raft of nominees for ambassador posts and other senior State Department positions, Foreign Policy has learned, as part of the administration’s goal of rebuilding the State Department.

The nominees include ambassadors to African and Asian countries as well as top State Department posts based in Washington to oversee the administration’s diplomatic affairs with Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and international organizations.

Some current and former officials have criticized the Biden administration for waiting so long to announce nominations for senior posts and ambassador positions, noting that about half of all U.S. ambassador posts worldwide are currently unfilled. This is significant as the Biden administration needs to quickly staff up to grapple with the country’s top foreign-policy challenges, from China to Iran to climate change. The Biden administration has only nominated and confirmed one ambassador position: Linda Thomas-Greenfield, ambassador to the United Nations. Biden has yet to name nominees for other critical posts, such as U.S. ambassadors to NATO, the European Union, China, Japan, South Korea, or Germany.

Biden officials say they are still contending with bureaucratic hurdles and bottlenecks left behind by former U.S. President Donald Trump, including his refusal to acknowledge the election results that set back the timeline for when Biden could pick and vet nominees. They also say stringent background checks for potential nominees’ security clearances have delayed the process.

Most of the new nominees are career foreign service officers, following Biden’s and Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s pledges to restore morale at the State Department and empower career diplomats following the Trump era, in which big donors dominated plum positions. Other nominees are retired diplomats and long-time foreign-policy experts who have close ties to Biden’s foreign-policy circles. Some of the names were first reported by Politico.


https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/04/15/biden-state-department-white-house-picks-diplomats/



The Kremlin puppet razed the State Department, weakening American influence the world over.

The task before those Biden is entrusting to rebuild is tremendous.

[elleng]

1. 'current and former officials have criticized the Biden administration for waiting so long'

should stfu, imo.

[orangecrush]

2. Agree 100%.