Biden announces ambassador nominees

President Biden announced a slate of ambassadorial nominees on Tuesday, including ambassadors to the key countries of Israel and Mexico.

His pick for ambassador to Israel is Thomas R. Nides, who is currently a vice chairman at Morgan Stanley. He is also a former deputy secretary of state for management and resources and had an earlier stint at Morgan Stanley as chief operating officer. Ken Salazar, a former senator from Colorado and former interior secretary during the Obama administration, is Mr. Biden's nominee for ambassador to Mexico.

Other nominees include Marc Ostfield to Paraguay, Julianne Smith to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Cynthia Ann Telles to Costa Rica, Sharon Cromer to Gambia, Julie Jiyoon Chung to Sri Lanka, Troy Damian Fitrell to Guinea, and C.B. "Sully" Sullenberger, III, to the U.S. Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization.

Mr. Biden has received some criticism for the delay in nominating ambassadors, but in reality, he isn't far off from recent predecessors.

Mr. Biden has so far sent nine ambassadorial nominations to the Senate as of Tuesday, and he just announced his intent to nominate nine more — for a total of 18.  Former President Trump had sent 12 ambassadorial nominations to the Senate by June 14, 2017. And former President Obama had nominated 27 ambassadors by June 15, 2009.

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