President Joe Biden plans to renominate dozens of candidates to key national security, judicial, and administrative posts with the start of a new Congress Tuesday, including controversial picks like former Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti who failed to win confirmation as ambassador to India last year.
Biden will submit roughly 60 people for jobs in the administration as well as 25 judicial nominees on Tuesday now that his party has firmer control of the Senate, a White House official said.
In addition to Garcetti, that group includes Phil Washington’s nomination to serve as Federal Aviation Administration administrator, Gigi Sohn’s appointment to the Federal Communications Commission, and Danny Werfel’s nomination as IRS commissioner.
Some of those nominations languished on Capitol Hill last year, including Garcetti, amid a controversy over allegations one of his top aides sexually harassed subordinates during his time in office. The nomination of Werfel, a former acting IRS commissioner, comes as Republican lawmakers have criticized the Biden Administration for securing billions in additional funding for tax enforcement.
Biden plans to renominate an additional 25 judicial nominees later this month, as well as nominees for a significant number of other administrative posts.
The president and White House officials have expressed hope that their nominees will move more quickly through the Senate in the new Congress, where Democrats hold a one seat majority in the upper chamber. Because of a 50-50 split in the past two years, the president’s nominees often needed additional floor time — and a tie-breaking vote from Vice President Kamala Harris — to gain confirmation.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.