Senate panel confirms L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti’s nomination as ambassador to India
(L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti. Credit: Wikimedia Commons)
A Senate panel on Jan. 12 confirmed the nomination of Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti to be U.S. ambassador to India. His nomination now heads to the full Senate, where it needs a simple majority vote to finalize the process. It’s not currently known when the Senate will vote on the nomination.
President Joe Biden nominated Garcetti, who served as a national co-chair of Biden’s presidential campaign, for the ambassadorship last July 9. The nomination cited Garcetti’s responsibilities overseeing the Port of Los Angeles, the Western Hemisphere’s busiest; the L.A. Department of Water and Power, the country’s biggest utility; Los Angeles International Airport, one of the busiest airports in the county.
In a December meeting, members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee questioned Garcetti, 50, about alleged sexual harassment incidents reportedly committed against employees by his former advisor Rick Jacobs.
A Los Angeles Police Department officer, who served for seven years as Garcetti’s bodyguard, filed a lawsuit in July 2020 accusing Jacobs of sexual harassment. The suit also alleges Garcetti knew about the misconduct but declined to intervene.
Naomi Seligman, a former director of communications for Garcetti, says she was forcibly kissed by Jacobs and that Garcetti knew about Jacobs’ alleged behavior. Jacobs has denied the allegations.
Garcetti denied allegations he knew about the alleged harassment.
Garcetti’s term is slated to end in December 2022. If his nomination is approved by the full Senate, the Los Angeles city council could name an acting mayor until a mayoral election is held. City Council President Nury Martinez has suggested she could temporarily fill the post, the Lost Angeles Times reported.
CBSLA reported that Garcetti said that he first traveled to India with his parents as a teenager, then again in 1990 as a guest of Ambassador William Clark Jr., whose son was Garcetti’s college roommate. He said the trip inspired him to study Hindi and Urdu in college, as well as Indian and cultural religious history. Garcetti also has a master’s degree in human rights and international law.
Garcetti’s father, Gil Garcetti, a former L.A. County district attorney, is of Mexican, Native American and Italian ancestry. Garcetti’s mother, Sukey Garcetti (nee Roth), is the granddaughter of Russian Jewish immigrants.