Eric Garcetti, the mayor of California’s Los Angeles, is scheduled to face the United States Senate on Tuesday to be considered as the country’s ambassador to India. The Foreign Relations Committee of the upper legislative chamber, headed by Democrat lawmaker Bob Menendez, will deliberate on the matter.

Garcetti, who will be leaving the mayoral office in 2022 due to term limits, was nominated by United States President Joe Biden earlier this year in July.

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If confirmed by the United States Senate on Tuesday, the current City Council president Nury Martinez will take over as acting mayor until an interim mayor is appointed.

According to reports from ANI citing unnamed sources, the White House considers Garcetti to be a key mediator in the diplomatic relations shared by India and the United States and will be able to push back against China’s expanding influence and power.

The hearing will also address the nominations of Donald Armin Blome and Amy Gutmann. Armin Blome, who is currently the ambassador to Tunisia, is up for becoming the ambassador to Pakistan. Gutmann, the President of the University of Pennsylvania, has been nominated as ambassador to Germany.

Menendez said that the Senate Committee is also reviewing a lawsuit filed by a Los Angeles Police Department officer that links Garcetti, 50, to sexual harassment allegations on his former aide Rick Jacobs. 

After his nomination was announced earlier this year in July, Garcetti said in a statement, “I love Los Angeles and will always be an Angeleno. I want you to know that every day I am your mayor, I will continue to lead this city like it is my first day on the job, with passion, focus, and determination”, according to reports from Los Angeles Daily News.

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“Should I be confirmed, I’ll bring this same energy, commitment, and love for this city to my new role and will forge partnerships and connections that will help Los Angeles,” said Garcetti in a statement, according to reports from AFP.

Garcetti has worked with Biden previously in the 2020 Presidential campaign, serving as the co-chairperson and key aide.