US President Joe Biden on Tuesday renominated Eric Garcetti, the former Mayor of Los Angeles, as his envoy to India. A statement by the White House said, "Eric M Garcetti, of California, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of India."
The nomination has been sent to the Senate, with the White House expressing hope that he would be confirmed by the United States Senate this time.
Garcetti's nomination to be US ambassador to India was first announced in July 2021 but confirmation by the Senate was held up after some senators raised concerns about allegations that he overlooked sexual harassment and bullying charges against one of his former political aides. Garcetti has denied he ignored the allegations, according to CNN.
His nomination was announced by the White House in January and in November, Jean-Pierre reaffirmed the Biden administration's commitment to getting through the nomination of Garcetti as US ambassador to India.
The White House has renominated him on Tuesday, and according to Jean-Pierre, the White House will push the US Senate to finally get a vote on Garcetti's nomination.
"Absolutely. India is a very important relationship that we have. You -- you saw the President greet and meet very briefly with Prime Minister Modi just last week when he was -- in Bali. It's an important relationship that -- that we truly respect," she added.
"Confirmation of Mayor Garcetti, who was voted out of committee unanimously and with strong bipartisan support to serve as ambassador to India. And that's important as we're talking about bipartisanship, as we're talking how we're going to move forward. And this is what you saw with his particular nomination," Jean-Pierre said.
"So, we see this as he is well qualified, Mayor Garcetti, to serve in this vital role, and we're hopeful that the full Senate will confirm him promptly. Again, he was voted out of committee unanimously with strong bipartisan support," she said.