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Biden pick for embassy in Brazil to be voted by U.S. Senate

Elizabeth Bagley, the first on the right, during a 2011 meeting. She is Joe Biden's pick for ambassador to Brazil. Photo: Jared King/NNWO

The U.S. Senate on Wednesday included in its executive calendar the nomination of Elizabeth Frawley Bagley for the country’s ambassadorship in Brazil. The executive calendar lines up nominations for full Senate consideration.

U.S. President Joe Biden named Ms. Bagley — a long-standing fundraiser and supporter of the Democratic Party — back in January of this year. Still, the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations hit a deadlock on whether to confirm Ms. Bagley for the post.

She began to face fierce opposition from the Republican Jewish Coalition after remarks made in a 1998 interview resurfaced. Ms. Bagley spoke about the “major money” and influence of the “Jewish lobby” in politics.

During her confirmation hearing in May, Democrat Senator Ben Cardin of Maryland said her comments “fit into the traditional tropes of antisemitism.” Ms. Bagley admitted to a “poor choice of words,” for which she was “very sorry that we even had the interview.” She added that her declarations don’t “reflect [her] thinking then and now.”

“It was a stupid thing to say. I regret those comments,” she told Senator Bob Menendez, the committee’s chairman.

Ms. Bagley, 70, has served as a diplomat under three presidents, starting with the Carter administration. She also served as a senior advisor in the U.S. State Department under John Kerry, Hillary Clinton, and Madeleine Albright, and worked as a special representative to the UN General Assembly, special representative for global partnerships, and U.S. ambassador to Portugal.

The post of U.S. ambassador to Brazil has been vacant since Todd Chapman left the country in July 2021.

Senator Mark Warner of Virginia today urged his Republican colleagues to approve the nomination.

“This relationship between the U.S. and Brazil is absolutely critical, now perhaps more than ever,” he said before the Senate floor. “I hope we make sure Elizabeth Bagley is confirmed as our country’s ambassador in Brazil so that she can be in Brasília by the time the new administration takes office, in January.”

Besides Ms. Bagley, more than 40 other nominees are awaiting confirmation from the Senate. In Latin America alone, eight ambassadorships remain vacant. Besides Brazil, the list includes Colombia, the region’s fourth-largest economy and a longtime strategic U.S. ally in the region.

Senators have also decided to vote on President Biden’s nominations for the embassies in Botswana, El Salvador, India, Saudi Arabia, Suriname, Tanzania, Uruguay, and the Organization of American States.