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Biden tempers expectations for high-dollar donors who hoped to get plum diplomatic posts

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Then-Vice President Joe Biden with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, left, and U.S. ambassador to Italy John Phillips in 2015. Photo: Tiberio Barchielli/Italian Prime Ministry/Anadolu Agency/Getty ImagesPresident Biden is tempering the ambassadorial expectations of his big-dollar donors, signaling he won't hand out plum posts for months and hinting he'll nominate fewer of them than his predecessors. The big picture: The president embraced the Democratic Party's when choosing his Cabinet. Now lawmakers to extend it to his ambassador picks, meaning white male donors — the core of his fundraiser base — will be in serious competition for fewer spots.What we are hearing: Biden is most likely to reward loyal politicians and former aides, with talk about former senators like Claire McCaskill headed for a gilded post in Europe. The big question: The ambassadorship to China has recently gone to former politicians, giving Beijing the prestige of a big-branded name and the White House the comfort that its envoy will have a political antenna to detect any potential problems.Biden is scheduled, weather permitting, to visit the State Department on Monday, a symbolic showing as he seeks to re-invigorate diplomacy and underscore America’s commitment to allies and partners. He's also expected to deliver remarks about his foreign policy initiatives.By the numbers: Biden will likely make non-career nominations for about 30% of the roughly 190 total ambassadorships, leaving 70% for the career Foreign Service, according to people familiar with the matter.Go deeper: The political category has always been divided, broadly, into three buckets: policy experts, politicians and donors.Washington Football Team president Jason Wright concedes there are mixed views around the interim name for the NFL franchise, but told Jim VandeHei in an "Axios on HBO" interview that he doesn't "think it's that weird."The big picture: The WFT changed their name in 2020 after years of complaints that the old one was a racial slur. Wright was hired after the name change.KYIV — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky tells "Axios on HBO" that he was "shocked" by the pro-Trump mob storming the U.S. Capitol, saying he never imagined this could happen in America and that it harms U.S. efforts to promote democracy abroad.Why it matters: Zelensky's comments show how the Jan. 6 riots have echoed beyond America's borders, unsettling allies and emerging democracies that look to the U.S. for security and inspiration.KYIV — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told "Axios on HBO" that he doesn't consider China to be a major geopolitical threat — a stance that may cause him friction with the Biden administration and Congress — even as he vowed to limit Chinese control of critical technology sectors.Why it matters: Zelensky's comments represent a break with U.S. national security leaders from both major political parties who are trying to rally allies to confront the threat of the Chinese Communist Party.Sign up for Mike Allen’s daily Axios AM and PM newsletters to get smarter, faster on the news that matters.

Then-Vice President Joe Biden with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, left, and U.S. ambassador to Italy John Phillips in 2015. Photo: Tiberio Barchielli/Italian Prime Ministry/Anadolu Agency/Getty ImagesPresident Biden is tempering the ambassadorial expectations of his big-dollar donors, signaling he won't hand out plum posts for months and hinting he'll nominate fewer of them than his predecessors. The big picture: The president embraced the Democratic Party's when choosing his Cabinet. Now lawmakers to extend it to his ambassador picks, meaning white male donors — the core of his...

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Biden tempers expectations for high-dollar donors who hoped to get plum diplomatic posts

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