{"id":727333,"date":"2021-09-07T15:50:17","date_gmt":"2021-09-07T19:50:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=727333"},"modified":"2021-09-07T15:50:21","modified_gmt":"2021-09-07T19:50:21","slug":"pay-to-play-ambassadorships-alive-and-well-under-the-biden-administration-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/pay-to-play-ambassadorships-alive-and-well-under-the-biden-administration-report\/","title":{"rendered":"Pay-To-Play Ambassadorships Alive And Well Under The Biden Administration: REPORT"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fpay-to-play-ambassadorships-alive-and-well-under-the-biden-administration-report%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=727333&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The practice of awarding ambassadorships to high-dollar political donors is alive and well under the Biden administration, according to a report Tuesday by a conservative watchdog group.<\/p>\n<p>The American Accountability Foundation found that 22 individuals recently nominated by President Joe Biden to serve \u201cdiplomatically critical appointments\u201d had contributed a combined $3.2 million in lifetime donations to Democratic politicians and political groups.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBiden rewards top jobs to political loyalists who donated thousands, if not millions of dollars to his political campaign and party. These critical positions are supposed to be filled with individuals who will represent America\u2019s interests abroad,\u201d the AAF wrote in its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bidennoms.com\/news\/1058\/pay-to-play-in-dc-as-biden-picks-loyal-donors-for-top-diplomat-spots\">report<\/a>. \u201cPutting the most qualified into positions to benefit millions of Americans seems to be secondary over rewarding political fundraisers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe hope Senators, including those who have received contributions from some of the nominees, will seek to confirm nominees to these important positions who are qualified and will put America\u2019s interests first,\u201d the AAF wrote.<\/p>\n<p>Examples of high-dollar donors receiving ambassadorship nominations include Thomas Nides, who was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.timesofisrael.com\/biden-announces-thomas-nides-as-nominee-to-serve-as-us-envoy-to-israel\/\">nominated<\/a> by Biden to serve as ambassador to Israel in June. Nides served as deputy secretary of state during former President Barack Obama\u2019s administration between 2011 and 2013, and since then he\u2019s served as vice chairman for Morgan Stanley.<\/p>\n<p>Nides has donated nearly $200,000 to 19 sitting Democratic Senators who bear the responsibility of voting to confirm him to his post, the AAF wrote, citing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fec.gov\/data\/receipts\/individual-contributions\/?contributor_name=thomas+nides\">Federal Election Commission<\/a> data.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_7277438\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" readability=\"40\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-7277438\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-7277438 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/GettyImages-158603306-scaled-1.jpg\" alt=\"Deputy Secretary of State William Burns (L) and Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources Thomas Nides (R) testify during the House Foreign Affairs Committee on the September 11th attack in Benghazi against the U.S. consulate, on Capitol Hill, December 20, 2012, in Washington, DC. (Drew Angerer\/Getty Images)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/GettyImages-158603306-scaled-1.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/cdn01.dailycaller.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/GettyImages-158603306-180x120.jpg 180w, https:\/\/cdn01.dailycaller.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/GettyImages-158603306-620x413.jpg 620w, https:\/\/cdn01.dailycaller.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/GettyImages-158603306-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn01.dailycaller.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/GettyImages-158603306-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/cdn01.dailycaller.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/GettyImages-158603306-2048x1365.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\" \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-7277438\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Deputy Secretary of State William Burns (L) and Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources Thomas Nides (R) testify during the House Foreign Affairs Committee on the September 11th attack in Benghazi against the U.S. consulate, on Capitol Hill, December 20, 2012, in Washington, DC. (Drew Angerer\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Biden\u2019s nominee to serve as ambassador to France, Denise Bauer, was one of the top <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.nytimes.com\/www.nytimes.com\/interactive\/2012\/09\/13\/us\/politics\/obamas-top-fund-raisers.html?_r=0\">fundraisers<\/a> for former President Barack Obama, bundling nearly $4.4 million for the former president\u2019s presidential campaigns in 2008 and 2012, according to the AAF. Bauer <a href=\"https:\/\/diplopundit.net\/2021\/07\/20\/women-for-biden-director-denise-campbell-bauer-to-be-u-s-ambassador-to-france-and-monaco\/\">served<\/a> as Obama\u2019s ambassador to Belgium from 2013 through 2017, and in 2019 she became the executive director of Women for Biden.<\/p>\n<p>Biden campaign <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/newsletters\/massachusetts-playbook\/2021\/05\/27\/will-baker-get-the-boot-cronin-causes-a-stir-janey-cant-fire-white-yet-corridor-of-death-493022\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">bundler<\/a> Claire Cronin was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/us\/biden-nominates-cindy-mccain-un-post-2021-06-23\/\">nominated<\/a> in June to serve as Biden\u2019s ambassador to Ireland. It\u2019s not clear how much Cronin, the Democratic majority leader in the Massachusetts House of Representatives, helped raise for Biden\u2019s presidential campaign, however, she\u2019s identified on the president\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/joebiden.com\/asmfr200830jkl\/\">campaign website<\/a> as a volunteer fundraiser that raised at least $100,000 for his campaign.<\/p>\n<p>The practice of presidents awarding <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/08\/20\/biden-emanuel-burns-china-japan-ambassador\/\">ambassadorships<\/a> to high-dollar political donors isn\u2019t unique to Biden, however, the rate at which he has selected political nominees over career foreign service officials is much higher than his predecessors, according to the AAF citing <a href=\"https:\/\/afsa.org\/appointments-joseph-r-biden\">data<\/a> from the American Foreign Service Association. <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2021\/04\/15\/biden-nomination-ambassador-africa-china-london\/\">(RELATED: Biden Names Nominees For 9 Empty Ambassadorships, But Major Posts Remain Unfilled)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Of Biden\u2019s 57 ambassadorship nominations as of Aug. 26, 31 \u2014 or 54.4% \u2014 have been political appointments, according to the AFSA.<\/p>\n<p>In comparison, some 43.5% of former President Donald Trump\u2019s 191 ambassadorship <a href=\"https:\/\/afsa.org\/appointments-donald-j-trump\">appointments<\/a> during his administration were political versus 56.5% being career appointments, according to the AFSA.<\/p>\n<p>Some 30% of Obama\u2019s 416 ambassador <a href=\"https:\/\/afsa.org\/appointments-barack-obama\">appointments<\/a> were political, and 31.8% of former President George W. Bush\u2019s ambassador <a href=\"https:\/\/afsa.org\/appointments-george-w-bush\">appointments<\/a> were political, according to AFSA.<\/p>\n<p>The White House did not return a request for comment.<\/p>\n<p>Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact <a href=\"mailto:licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org\">licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The practice of awarding ambassadorships to high-dollar political donors is alive and well under the Biden administration, according to a report Tuesday by a conservative watchdog group.The American Accountability Foundation &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-727333","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/727333","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=727333"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/727333\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=727333"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=727333"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=727333"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}