U.N. food agency ambassadorship

Biden nominates Cindy McCain for U.N. food agency ambassadorship

McCain, an Arizona businesswoman, was married to the late Republican Sen. John McCain.

By MAEVE SHEEHEY

President Joe Biden named four ambassador nominees on Wednesday, including Cindy McCain, the wife of the late Republican Sen. John McCain, as U.S. representative to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture.

McCain’s nomination is a bipartisan move on Biden’s part, as she is a prominent Republican businesswoman in Arizona. Biden was friends with her husband, who represented the state, and Cindy McCain endorsed Biden during his run for president in 2020. The McCains’ daughter Meghan McCain is a conservative TV personality.

Biden’s other nominees included those for Ireland, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. At this point, Biden has unveiled 23 nominees for ambassadorships.

Michael Carpenter, the managing director of the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement at the University of Pennsylvania, was nominated for U.S. representative to the OSCE. Claire Cronin, the majority leader in the Massachusetts Legislature, was announced as nominee for ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to Ireland. Jack Markell, a former governor of Delaware, was unveiled as the nominee for U.S. representative to the OECD.

The White House has previously stated its intention to have a 70/30 ratio of career appointees to political appointees.

Biden has been on the receiving end of some recent criticism that he’s moving too slowly with ambassadorships, as certain notable posts, such as Germany and Canada, remain unchosen.

The president previously named a slate of ambassadors last week. The White House announced earlier on Wednesday that those names had been sent to the Senate.