EXPLAINED | What is the controversy surrounding Eric Garcetti? Biden's pick for US envoy to India

Eric Garcetti's candidature is expected to be heard on Tuesday (February 28) by the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, more than a year after he was initially considered as a potential American ambassador to India in2021.

Garcetti, who was putforth by USPresident Joseph Biden to serve as ambassador to India, suffered yet another setback when a prominent Republican Senator put a hold on his confirmation, citing him as one of several "questionable" nominees.

Six additional nominations were also put on hold by Senator Marco Rubio, including that of Richard Verma, a former US ambassador to India, just days priorto a hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that was set for Tuesday. The confirmation procedures for Garcetti, Verma, and others would have to be postponed indefinitely until the problem is fixed, even though the Committee hearing may still go on, as reported by the Indian Express.

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Biden and Garcetti: Political allies

In July 2021, Garcetti was named as the White House's choice for India, but his appointment was delayed due to charges of sexual harassment against his aide Rick Jacobs.

The appointment of Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti as the United States ambassador to India was originally announced by President Joe Biden in May 2021, according to news organisation Axios.

Garcetti, 50, served as co-chair of Biden's election campaign and is still one of the President's most significant political allies. He was supposed to be a member of Biden's cabinet, but the scandal surrounding Rick Jacobs is alleged to have derailed those plans, as per AFP reports.

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Subsequently, American political circles perceived the potential selection of Garcetti, the mayor of the country's second-largest city by population (after New York City), as India's ambassador as a reward for one of the president's steadfast political allies.

Garcetti, who had three years prior given the idea of running for president some thought, backed Biden for the 2020 Democratic candidature on January 9, 2020. The selection committee to choose the presumed Democratic nominee's running mate picked Garcetti at the end of April of last year.

He was named as a candidate for the Biden Administration's position of secretary of transportation in November 2020. Black Lives Matter organised large-scale demonstrations against the nomination in Los Angeles, and Mayor Garcetti revealed that he had declined a job offer from Vice President-elect Biden without going into further detail, as reported by theIndian Express.

In March 2017, Garcetti was re-elected mayor for a five-and-a-half-year term. The election to choose his successor was set to take place in the fall of 2022. He is only permitted to serve two terms in office per local legislation. Los Angeles' mayor at the moment is a Democrat named Karen Bass.

The controversy surrounding Garcetti

A former bodyguard, Matthew Garza, filed a sexual harassment case against Jacobs that damaged Garcetti's chances for a Cabinet position before and the ambassadorial position currently.

While Garcetti was the mayor of Los Angeles from 2013 until 2022, Jacobs was his aide. According to reports, Jacobs gave people unsolicited hugs, massages, and lewd sex banter, as reported by the Week.

Further claims against Jacobs surfaced in various press reports and deposition testimony, after which more people have come forward to level similar charges against him.

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Garcetti has said that he was unaware of Jacobs' sexual misconduct and has testified under oath in front of the Senate to this effect. It was "extremely unlikely," according to a report written by Republican Senator Charles E. Grassley in May 2022, that Garcetti was oblivious of the aide's allegedly inappropriate behaviour.

The White House, however, stated that President Joe Biden backs Garcetti. “This partisan report was a hit job from the beginning, and many of the claims have already been conclusively debunked by more serious independent reports,” the White House said.

Marco Rubio's stance

Republican US Senator Marco Rubio stated last week that he would also impose a hold on Garcetti due to the latter's ignorance of credible sexual assault allegations in his prior office, as reported by the Indian Express.

“I will not turn a blind eye to these absurd nominations, which will hasten America’s decline,” Rubio said in a statement on Friday. Rubio’s move will be another hurdle for Garcetti’s nomination, which had lapsed last year.

What next ?

The Senate's failure to appoint Biden's nominee for the position, Garcetti, has resulted in the vacancy in the position of US ambassador to India lasting for over two years.

Analysts have previously noted that the record-long vacancy occurs as US-India ties enter their "most critical phase," and that from America's standpoint, a long-term vision of the strategic partnership was needed, as reported by the Print.

It also appears doubtful that Biden will withdraw Garcetti's nomination and propose a different candidate. The White House stated that Garcetti's nomination was a "priority" on December 15 and that it will continue to support him. This was one week after Democrats gained a majority in the Senate, the Print reported.

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