USA: influential Senator opposes Joe Biden's pick for Ambassador to India post, Eric Garcetti

The Joe Biden government appears to be struggling to send Eric Garcetti as the US Ambassador to India.

On 13 December, influential US Senator Chuck Grassley opposed Garcetti's nomination as the envoy to India because of sexual harassment allegations.

The Senator said that he's voting against Garcetti due to "serious allegations about sexual harassment and racism" levelled when the nominee was Los Angeles Mayor. The Senator cited allegations that Garcetti was aware of and enabled his deputy chief of staff, Rick Jacobs, to sexually harass several employees within the Mayor's office.

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"These men and women allege that Rick Jacobs engaged in inappropriate physical conduct (with several employees) without their consent. They allege that Jacobs made crude sexual remarks and gestures toward staff and others. They allege that he made blatantly racist remarks towards Asians and other minorities. These allegations have also been publicly reported in The Los Angeles Times," said the Republican Senator from Iowa.

Grassley alleged that the Biden administration, by supporting Garcetti, 51, is sending a message to the victims of sexual harassment in the workplace that they are only to be believed when politically convenient.

With India being the current chair of G-20 resulting in a lot of diplomatic activities between the two countries, the Biden administration wants to have its envoy in New Delhi as soon as possible.

Garcetti, who served as the 42nd mayor of Los Angeles from July 2013 until December 2022, is a close aide of President Joe Biden.

(With PTI inputs)