Scoop: Biden considering prominent Republicans for ambassadorships

  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.
Margaret Talev
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

Biden administration officials are weighing nominating prominent Republicans to ambassadorships — including Cindy McCain and former Republican Sen. Jeff Flake — to highlight the importance of bipartisanship in U.S. foreign policy, according to people familiar with their thoughts.

Why it matters: President Biden hasn't put any Republicans in his Cabinet, but a move like this would symbolize a return to the Truman-era adage that partisan politics stops "at the water's edge."

Get market news worthy of your time with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free.

  • It also would signal to other nations the Trump era is over, and Biden speaks for all Americans, not just Democrats.

  • In addition, the potential nominations of two Arizona Republicans who clashed with former President Trump and endorsed Biden could boost Democrats, signaling a big-tent approach in a once-red state the new president won by some 10,000 votes.

  • Biden aides say it's premature to discuss either name, and no decisions have been made about ambassadorships.

What we are hearing: McCain, the widow of Sen. John McCain, has been discussed for the United Kingdom, while Flake has been mentioned for South Africa, as well as postings in Europe.

  • Competition for plum ambassadorships, especially in Western Europe, will be intense, with Biden officials already hinting they won’t appoint as many donors as previous presidents.

  • Cindy McCain, who testified to Biden's strengths during a speech at the Democratic National Convention, is likely to end up with an ambassadorship of some kind, though London isn't guaranteed.

  • In addition to being the spouse of the 2008 Republican presidential nominee, she has been a prominent Republican figure herself nationally.

  • Flake cast himself as a traditional Republican and emerged as a critic of Trump. He served as a Mormon missionary to South Africa as well as Zimbabwe.

How it works: Steve Ricchetti, counselor to the president, is helping manage the process, deciding how to reward various supporters and donors, groups that are typically in the running for ambassadorships.

  • Now that Tony Blinken has been installed as secretary of State, that process is accelerating, but final decisions about who gets what are weeks away.

  • British media reported on the possibility of McCain heading to London in November, but those discussions are more advanced now.

Like this article? Get more from Axios and subscribe to Axios Markets for free.

Latest Stories

  • Republicans could impeach Biden in 2022 for revenge, lawmaker warns

    Devin Nunes says GOP majority in the House after 2022 midterms could spell trouble for new president as fringe conservatives seek retribution

  • FBI probe of Texas AG expands to look at home renovations

    The FBI is investigating renovations made to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's million-dollar home as part of an ongoing probe into allegations that the state's highest-ranking attorney illegally helped a wealthy donor, according to records obtained by The Associated Press. Last year, much of Paxton’s senior staff accused him of committing crimes to help Austin real estate developer Nate Paul, whom some of the Republican’s former deputies now say had a hand in work done on Paxton's home. Following the remarkable revolt that riled Texas politics, all of Paxton’s accusers quit or were fired and four later sued the attorney general under the state’s whistleblower law.

  • Asian Man Beaten and Robbed of ‘Around $15K’ at Bank in the Bay Area

    In the latest of a new surge in anti-Asian attacks, a man was assaulted and robbed while trying to deposit “large sums of money” at a bank in San Leandro, California this week. The incident, which left the victim with minor injuries, occurred at the Bank of America branch at 1925 Marina Boulevard around 1:20 p.m. on Tuesday. Witnesses tell me this older Asian man was making a deposit at the Bank of America along Marina in San Leandro & was attacked & robbed.

  • Freed Saudi activist had electrodes fixed on her head during phone calls with relatives, family says

    A detained Saudi women’s rights activist had electrodes fixed to her head during phone calls with her family to prevent her speaking of the torture she suffered in prison, her sister said on Thursday after her release. Loujain al-Hathoul was released to her family’s home in Riyadh on Wednesday after 1,001 days in prison on charges related to her activism. Under her probation she is unable to travel, use social media or speak to the media. Her sisters, who live abroad, announced Thursday that Ms al-Hathoul will seek legal redress in Saudi Arabia for torture she said she suffered in detention. “She was tortured and she cannot forget this,” her sister Lina said, during an online press conference. The family have previously claimed Ms al-Hathoul was tortured – which Saudi authorities deny – but gave new details Thursday, including that the threat of electrocution stopped her speaking out. “If I complained about anything they were ready to electrocute me,” Lina said her sister told the family on Wednesday of her early months in detention. “It was months later that we found out about the torture” when Ms al-Hathoul was moved to another prison, Lina said. Ms al-Hathoul has identified one of her torturers as Saud Al Qahtani, a top adviser to the Saudi crown prince until he was sanctioned by the US over his role in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. “He’s the only person that we know the name of who was present at the torture sessions,” Lina said. Mr Qahtani is notorious in Saudi Arabia, sometimes called the “lord of the flies” for his army of Twitter trolls used for attacking dissidents. “Loujain recognised him, he’s a public figure,” said her older sister Alia. Ms al-Hathoul now hopes to use the Saudi justice system to prove she was tortured and seek justice. “The torturers must be sentenced,” Lina said. In December, Ms al-Hathoul was sentenced to nearly six years imprisonment over her activism, which included demanding the right for women to drive and calling for the abolition of Saudi Arabia’s male guardianship system. The decades old driving ban was lifted weeks after her arrest, with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman eager to claim the credit for the reform. The 35-year-old prince muscled his way to become next in line to the throne in 2015, partly by projecting an image as a dynamic young reformer who could modernise the conservative kingdom. But the sisters believe that any reforms under Mohammed bin Salman are illusory. “MBS is far from being a reformer, he’s an oppressor,” said Lina, referring to him by his initials. “Women’s empowerment is a lie in Saudi Arabia, there are no real reforms,” she said. Lina said she was choosing her words carefully to avoid further negative repercussions for her family still in Saudi Arabia: “There’s really an atmosphere of fear under MBS.” The family believe Ms al-Hathoul’s early release was timed by the Saudi government to impress new US President Joe Biden, who has promised closer scrutiny of his close ally’s human rights record. “Saudi Arabia’s situation is tightly connected with what’s going on in the US,” Alia said. “The Biden administration made clear that they care about human rights.”

  • Josh Hawley's wife pens Fox News editorial detailing protests, death threats over husband's election response

    Ms Hawley called the protest 'an assault' on her home, though there was no damage and no violence occurred

  • Judge declines new arrest warrant for Kyle Rittenhouse

    A judge on Thursday refused prosecutors’ request to issue a new arrest warrant for an 18-year-old from Illinois accused of killing two people during a police brutality protest in Wisconsin last summer. Kenosha County Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger alleged that Kyle Rittenhouse failed to update his address when he moved out of his Antioch apartment in November, amounting to a bail violation. In addition to a new arrest warrant, Binger asked Judge Bruce Schroeder to increase Rittenhouse's bail by $200,000.

  • Murkowski says after seeing 'pretty damning' evidence, she doesn't think Trump could ever be re-elected

    Previously unreleased footage of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot shown during Wednesday's impeachment proceedings left Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) "angry," "disturbed," and "sad," she told reporters Wednesday night. The video and audio showcased the brutality of some members of the pro-Trump mob that stormed the Capitol. In one clip, an officer was shown getting crushed in a doorway, while other videos showed officers getting shoved as they tried to keep rioters back. "I don't see how after the American public sees the whole story laid out here ... how Donald Trump could be re-elected to the presidency," Murkowski told reporters. The House impeachment managers put together a timeline detailing where the rioters were at the Capitol, Trump's messages to the mob, and pleas lawmakers made to Trump in an attempt to get his supporters to leave the complex. The managers are trying to prove that Trump incited an insurrection, and they are making "a strong case," Murkowski said. "The evidence that has been presented thus far is pretty damning." More stories from theweek.comThe most important person in the impeachment trial is missing. It isn't Trump.5 brutally funny cartoons about Republicans' twisted impeachment logicWould the Capitol mob have killed Mike Pence?

  • ‘We are dying.’ 911 call about migrants trapped in tanker has Texas police searching

    State and federal officials are searching for a white tanker.

  • Israel's former UN envoy regrets tweet asking Biden to call Netanyahu

    Israel's former UN envoy has said he regrets the phrasing of a provocative tweet imploring Joe Biden to phone their prime minister, denying that the move was coordinated with Benjamin Netanyahu's office. “I didn’t formulate the tweet, but I take responsibility for it,” Danny Danon told Army Radio on Thursday, in an apparent attempt to distance himself from the phrasing of the post. “The choice of words was not successful but I stand behind the message.” "The tweet was not coordinated with the prime minister or his adversaries,” he added. A day earlier, Mr Danon’s tweet – which included an out-of-service phone number at the Israeli foreign ministry – fuelled speculation that the Israeli government was directing him in order to pressure Mr Biden, or that perhaps he was trying to embarrass Mr Netanyahu.

  • Teens Charged Over Rape and Murder of Milwaukee Woman

    Two teenagers have been charged in connection with the rape and death of Ee Lee in Washington Park, Milwaukee in September 2020. Violent crime: Lee, 36, was found unconscious, still breathing but with severe injuries and undressed below the waist in Washington Park by "bystanders" on Sept. 16, 2020. The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's Office confirmed Lee was sexually assaulted and identified blunt force trauma to her head as the cause of her death.

  • Lawyer David Schoen leaves impeachment trial to do Fox News interview ‘on Trump’s orders’

    The lawyer went on the cable news channel to call the impeachment managers' argument 'offensive'

  • Lindsey Graham reads Neera Tanden negative Glassdoor reviews from old employees during confirmation hearing

    As Neera Tanden, President Biden's nominee to take over as the director of the Office of Management and Budget, sat Wednesday for her confirmation hearing, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), the ranking Republican on the Senate Budget Committee, read aloud some reviews her former employees at the Center for American Progress left on Glassdoor over the last few years. Graham noted that Tanden, the president of CAP, referred the committee to the reviews, some of which were far from flattering about the management at the public policy organization, even when the overall experience was considered positive ("Great experience, terrible management," one read.) "All I can say," Graham said after going through some of the negative comments, "is that this is not the unifying pick that I was looking for in this position." CONFIRMATION HEARING: Sen. Lindsey Graham reads negative Glassdoor reviews of Center for American Progress under Neera Tanden after she referred committee to them: “‘1 out of 5 stars. Terrible absolutely horrible.’” pic.twitter.com/u6hKaZWg0W — Forbes (@Forbes) February 10, 2021 Republicans like Graham weren't the only ones to raise concerns about Tanden. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), the chair of the committee, joined some GOP colleagues in questioning Tanden about some inflammatory comments she previously made on Twitter. "Your attacks were not just made against Republicans," he said. "There were vicious attacks made against progressives. People I have worked with." Sanders acknowledged lawmakers are used to such criticism, but he clarified that "it's important" to refrain from personal attacks and instead express "differences on policy." Tanden told Sanders she regrets her past remarks and will change her approach if confirmed. .@SenSanders says it's important to "minimize the level of personal and vicious attacks." Asks Neera Tanden if she'll have a different approach at OMB.@neeratanden: "Absolutely...social media does lead to too many personal comments and my approach will be radically different." pic.twitter.com/QB6FAtrWQr — CSPAN (@cspan) February 10, 2021 More stories from theweek.comThe most important person in the impeachment trial is missing. It isn't Trump.5 brutally funny cartoons about Republicans' twisted impeachment logicWould the Capitol mob have killed Mike Pence?

  • Georgia: Potential vote fraud case handed to prosecutors

    Georgia election officials say they’re referring for possible criminal prosecution a potential voter fraud case involving a group recently linked to one of the state's new Democratic U.S. senators — The New Georgia Project. U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, a Democrat elected to the Senate last month, is named as a respondent in the case because of his former ties to the group, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. It’s among 35 cases involving potential violations of election law being sent from the State Election Board to the attorney general or local prosecutors, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said in a statement Thursday.

  • Iranian nuclear scientist killed by one-ton automated gun in Israeli hit: Jewish Chronicle

    The Iranian nuclear scientist assassinated near Tehran in November was killed by a one-ton gun smuggled into Iran in pieces by the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad, according to a report by The Jewish Chronicle on Wednesday. Citing intelligence sources, the British weekly said a team of more than 20 agents, including Israeli and Iranian nationals, carried out the ambush on scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh after eight months of surveillance. Shortly after his death Iran pointed the finger at Israel, Foreign Minister Javad Zarif writing on Twitter of “serious indications of (an) Israeli role."

  • How to Add a Little Extra Luxury to Your Bath Time

    If not a lot of luxuryOriginally Appeared on Architectural Digest

  • Fauci predicts 'everybody and anybody' will be able to get vaccinated starting in April

    Dr. Anthony Fauci has a dose of hope for Americans looking to get vaccinated as soon as possible. Right now, COVID-19 vaccines are in short supply, and every state has restricted their distribution to priority groups like older people and essential workers. But Fauci sees that turning around in just a few short months. "As we get into March and April, the number of available doses will allow for much more of a mass vaccination approach," he told the Today show on Thursday. "I would imagine by the time we get to April, that will be what I would call, for better wording, 'open season,'" Fauci added. "Namely, virtually everybody and anybody in any category could start to get vaccinated." Still, it could take several months for everyone to nab an appointment and complete inoculation, he said. “By the time we get to April, that will be what I would call open season,” Dr. Anthony Fauci says about the timeline for vaccination availability for all groups to begin getting shots. pic.twitter.com/BMGD3YSVex — TODAY (@TODAYshow) February 11, 2021 Fauci's prediction came just hours before President Biden announced the purchase of 200 million more vaccine doses. While visiting the National Institutes of Health on Thursday, Biden said 100 million more Moderna vaccine and 100 million more from Pfizer will be available this summer. That means the U.S. has purchased enough doses to vaccinate every American, and will have procured 300 million doses total by this summer. BREAKING: "We've now purchased enough vaccine supply to vaccinate all Americans," President Biden says after announcing the purchase of 200M more coronavirus vaccines (100M Moderna, 100M Pfizer). "We're now on track to have enough supply for 300M Americans by the end of July." pic.twitter.com/lGXtxFtKCP — NBC News (@NBCNews) February 11, 2021 More stories from theweek.comThe most important person in the impeachment trial is missing. It isn't Trump.5 brutally funny cartoons about Republicans' twisted impeachment logicWould the Capitol mob have killed Mike Pence?

  • Alabama death row inmate Willie B Smith given last-minute execution reprieve

    State plans to challenge appeal court's ruling on death row inmate

  • Lawyer gains national attention after appearing as cat on Zoom hearing

    A West Texas judge has a word of caution to those attending court hearings via Zoom: Always check for filters before logging on.

  • ‘It was her spirit’: Myanmar teen shot by police was determined to protest coup

    Instead, she is fighting for her life in a hospital in the capital Naypyitaw after she was shot in the head when police cracked down on a protest against the military coup. Myanmar's army seized power on Feb. 1 and detained elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi, ending a long transition towards democracy and bringing tens of thousands of demonstrators onto the streets. Mya Thwate Thwate Khaing, a 19-year-old grocery store worker, had traveled with her sisters from a nearby village to Naypyitaw, the army-built capital in the center of the country, for a protest on Tuesday.

  • Video captures pepper-sprayed girl's wait for EMTs

    A 9-year-old Black girl pepper sprayed by police pleaded “please don’t do this to me” and “it burns” as she waited handcuffed in the back seat of a police cruiser for 16 minutes, according to new police body camera footage released Thursday. (Feb. 11)