Garcetti Confirmed Heading to India as Ambassador

This afternoon, by a vote of 52 to 42, former Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti was confirmed as the new Ambassador to India.

This was only possible because seven Republican senators crossed the aisle and voted for Garcetti’s candidacy. Without these seven votes, Garcetti’s nomination would not have taken place.

These senators are: Todd Young of Indiana, Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Susan Collins of Maine, Roger Marshall of Kansas, Steve Danes of Montana, and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina. It is clear that Minority Leader Mitch McConnell did not try to block the nomination by keeping the Republicans “in line”.

Reportedly, the main reason the seven voted “yes” was because the position had been vacant for about two years. While this is not an actual reason to vote for Garcetti — the vacancy has been left open for so long precisely because Garcetti was covered in goo and Biden’s uncompromising intransigence — it reinforces the idea that the vote was mere political expediency and not based on what or thoughtful considerations. .

Graham’s hypocrisy is especially notable because he co-sponsored a law Biden signed into law in December called Act to Repeal Compulsory Arbitration in Sexual Assault and Harassment Caseswhich prevents perpetrators from pushing victims of sexual harassment and sexual assault into a “secret and often biased process of forced arbitration.”

His Democratic co-sponsor of the bill, which passed the Senate last year unanimous consent was Kirsten Gillibrand of New York. Gillibrand also voted to confirm Garcetti.

Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, who herself has said in the past that she was the victim of sexual harassment, also voted for Garcetti.

While bushels of politically expedient hypocrisy were on display on the Senate floor, three Democrats defied Biden’s wishes and voted against Garcetti’s nomination — Arizona’s Mark Kelly, Ohio’s Sherrod Brown, and Hawaii’s Maisie Hirono.

The vote was taken without any debate after the motion to close was passed before the nomination vote actually took place. Clearly expecting victory, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said after the shutdown vote, “Now we have an ambassador in India.”

Those who fought to hold Garcetti accountable for his actions—or inactions—in regards to indiscriminate, physical, and aggressive sexual harassment by Rick Jacobs, his political aide, were not at all happy with the Senate vote.

“This is heartbreaking not only for me and the other whistleblowers and victims of this case, but also for those who are experiencing sexual harassment and violence right now and are hoping that our political leaders will protect them if they provide credible evidence,” he said. . Naomi Seligman, Garcetti’s former communications director, lifelong Democrat and head of a movement to block Garcetti’s approval.

“That such behavior is rewarded at the highest levels is a mockery of supposed bipartisan support for the #metoo movement. Senators cannot subordinate their values ​​to political expediency,” Seligman said. “Remember, predators only persist in their abuses if powerful people allow them to. Thanks to those senators who withstood the pressure and did the right thing.”

“Today’s confirmation challenges the fact that 19 courageous whistleblowers, victims and witnesses have come before the Senate to testify that Eric Garcetti tolerated, tolerated and covered up years of sexual abuse by his top aide at Los Angeles City Hall,” Liddy said. Liu of Whistleblower Aid, a DC band that helped fight the nomination. “This will have a deterrent effect on future attempts to bring perpetrators and perpetrators to justice and will make victims and witnesses think twice about the risks they are taking in bringing charges. The Senate voted against its own values, against the truth, and against the interests of our relationship with the world’s largest democracy. We have to work better.”

For backstory, political facilitator Jacobs was credibly accused by a number of other former Garcetti employees of aggressive caresses, unwanted kisses, and racist comments (see here for a deeper dive into the details).

Despite this being made public, Biden nominated Garcetti for the post, although he reportedly conceded it to other administrative posts.

In addition to Garcetti’s appalling behavior on the Jacobs issue, he presided over one of the most corrupt city halls in decades, and received huge sums of money from groups possibly linked to Chinese intelligence agencies, a potential disqualifying factor. from the position of ambassador to India, since China and India have very cold relations.

globe reached out to seven senators’ officials for comment and/or attempts to justify their vote and will update this story if and when they respond.

If you would like to contact the senators yourself, here are the email addresses of the press officer for each of them:

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

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