Mr. Biden on Tuesday also announced that Chesley B. Sullenberger III, the pilot who executed a water landing off Midtown Manhattan after a dual engine failure brought his plane plummeting toward earth, as his nominee for ambassador to the International Civil Aviation Organization.
Other nominees announced Tuesday included Julianne Smith, currently an adviser to Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken, to serve as ambassador to NATO.
Tuesday’s announcement was expected to be the first batch of a multiweek rollout of nominees. Some of Mr. Biden’s selections for the most significant posts abroad — including R. Nicholas Burns, a veteran Foreign Service officer and a former ambassador to NATO, to serve as ambassador to China, and Mayor Eric Garcetti of Los Angeles to serve as ambassador to India — were not announced on Tuesday, even though several people familiar with the process said their nominations had been finalized internally.
The White House press secretary, Jen Psaki, has noted that the process takes a long time in part because “countries have to agree to these selections, and so sometimes that’s part of the timeline.” Some of Mr. Biden’s nominees who were not officially announced Tuesday, but who have been selected, are also still completing time-consuming background checks and financial reviews as part of the rigorous vetting process, White House officials said.
Some of the announcements have been delayed as the White House has sought to roll out a diverse slate of appointees. In addition to racial and gender diversity, Mr. Biden also wanted to signal to career Foreign Service officials that they are valued by whittling down the number of posts given to campaign donors.