Good morning, and welcome to L.A. on the Record — our City Hall newsletter. Dakota Smith is here to wrap up all the news of the week for you!
Newsletter
Get the lowdown on L.A. politics
In this pivotal election year, we’ll break down the ballot and tell you why it matters in our L.A. on the Record newsletter.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
The last time Eric Garcetti’s nomination to become U.S. ambassador to India was before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, in December 2021, things went pretty smoothly for the then-Los Angeles mayor.
Only one member of the committee, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), pressed him on sexual harassment allegations made against one of his former advisors. The next month, the committee voted to move his nomination to the full Senate.
But now, some Republicans appear ready for a fight. The committee was scheduled to reconsider Garcetti’s nomination Tuesday, because it’s a new session of Congress and all nominations put forward by President Biden must be resubmitted.
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), a member of the committee, said Friday he was placing a “hold” on Garcetti’s nomination, a move that slows down the process. (Other Republicans have also at times placed holds on Garcetti’s nomination.)
In a statement, Rubio alleged that Garcetti “has ignored credible sexual assault accusations in his prior office.”
Rubio also placed holds on other nominees scheduled to be taken up at Tuesday’s meeting.
Under committee rules, any member can postpone a vote on a nominee until the next committee meeting. That means a vote on Garcetti isn’t likely to take place Tuesday.
A Garcetti spokesperson declined to comment.
The former mayor’s nomination stalled last year over questions about whether Garcetti and top aides knew about sexual harassment complaints lodged against former advisor Rick Jacobs. Jacobs has said that he didn’t harass…