President Joe Biden has nominated Mark Brzezinski, the brother of MSNBC Host Mike Brezinski, to be the U.S. ambassador to Poland, the White House announced Wednesday.
Brzezinski previously served as the U.S. ambassador to Sweden under President Barack Obama’s administration. He is among the most recent slate of ambassadorial nominees from Biden, whose administration has so far been slow to fill U.S. embassies across the globe. (RELATED: Biden Names Nominees For 9 Empty Ambassadorships, But Major Posts Remain Unfilled)
New: Biden announces Mark Brzezinski as his pick for U.S. ambassador to Poland, as expected. He’s the son of the late U.S. diplomat Zbigniew and sister of MSNBC’s Mika.
— Jennifer Epstein (@jeneps) August 4, 2021
Biden has not yet filled the ambassadorships to Beijing or Mexico City. He has, however, nominated former Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to fill the Mexico City post, and he reportedly plans to nominate former NATO ambassador Nicholas Burns to Beijing.
Biden’s administration has taken longer than usual to fill U.S. embassies across the globe, including key allies and adversaries.
The ambassadorships to the United Kingdom, France, Germany and numerous others also remain unfilled, however. Presidents commonly, although controversially, hand out certain ambassadorships to prominent donors and other wealthy allies. The White House has reportedly been debating how many ambassadorships to set aside for that purpose, according to USA Today. (RELATED: Biden Names Nominees For 9 Empty Ambassadorships, But Major Posts Remain Unfilled)
Biden’s choice of ambassador to China is sure to draw attention given how much he has emphasized competition with China in his foreign policy. He has framed the struggle between the U.S. and China as one that will determine whether democracy or autocracy will lead the world into the future.
If Biden fills the post in India it would be a major step toward establishing long-term diplomatic presence across Asia and the Indo-Pacific. The administration previously announced it would nominate former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel as ambassador to Japan.
The first two heads of state Biden chose to host at the White House were Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and South Korean President Moon Jae-in, further showing his focus on Asia and determination to stand up to Chinese aggression.