WASHINGTON — Eric Garcetti is officially the U.S. ambassador to India.
The former L.A. mayor and newly minted ambassador was sworn in on Friday by Vice President Kamala Harris, a fellow Californian. The ceremony capped Garcetti’s dramatic, nearly two-year fight to fill one of Washington’s most critical diplomatic posts.
“It feels great. Can’t wait to serve,” Garcetti said as he flashed two thumbs up after the ceremony in Harris’ ceremonial office, located in a building next to the White House. “I’m so honored the vice president did this today.”
A grinning Garcetti raised his right hand while Harris performed the ceremony, and family members cheered when the two longtime friends shook hands.
The Senate voted 52 to 42 to confirm Garcetti earlier this month after his nomination stalled for nearly two years over concerns about whether the former mayor knew, or should have known, about sexual harassment allegations against a former top aide. In an unexpected plot twist, seven Republicans crossed the aisle to help him secure the post while three Democrats opposed him.
President Joe Biden, a close political ally of the mayor, first nominated Garcetti in July 2021. Garcetti cleared his first Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing in late 2021 by an unanimous vote, but his pathway was soon blocked by allegations against his former aide, Rick Jacobs. Garcetti has denied any knowledge of the allegations.
Biden refused to name a new nominee and even renominated Garcetti on the first day of the new Congress in January, sending an unmistakable message that the president was sticking with his pick.
Garcetti sought to convince skeptical senators on his own. The former mayor’s parents — former L.A. County District Attorney Gil Garcetti and Sukey Garcetti — hired lobbyists to help secure his confirmation, spending $90,000 in 2022 alone, according to federal filings.
“I checked in with him to make sure he still wanted me,” Garcetti told the Los Angeles Times after he was confirmed in the Senate. “I can tell you, unequivocally, he said, ‘Eric, I’m still 100% behind you.’”
The U.S. has been without an ambassador to India since January 2020. Biden has sought to bolster economic ties with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he looks to counter China’s growing influence in the region and shore up support for Ukraine against continued Russian aggression. Modi has not explicitly condemned Russia’s invasion and has continued to buy cheap gas from Moscow, shrugging off U.S. and European sanctions aimed at cutting off Russian President Vladimir Putin’s ability to fund the war.
The ceremony in Harris’ office also marked a personal moment between two politicians who ascended the California political world together. Harris and Garcetti’s relationship spans more than 15 years, during which she served as California’s attorney general and later a U.S. senator for the state.
During Biden’s successful run for president, Garcetti, then Biden campaign’s national co-chair, recalled trudging through the Iowa snow with Harris in 2008 to knock on doors for then-Sen. Barack Obama. He’s also spoken about their bond over being mixed race: Harris is of Indian and Jamaican descent and Garcetti is Jewish and Mexican American.
Garcetti’s parents, his wife, Amy Wakeland, and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff stood next to the former mayor to mark the occasion. Garcetti’s daughter, Maya, held the historic Hebrew bible on loan from the Library of Congress used for the ceremony.
Asked when he plans to travel to India, Garcetti said: “Hopefully as soon as I can.”
