Biden outpacing predecessors with ambassadorships for donors, political supporters

A majority of President Biden's nominees to ambassadorships thus far have been political appointees, frequently for big Democratic donors and key party players, at a rate higher than his predecessors.

While rewarding donors might seem as old as presidential elections, according to data from the American Foreign Service Association, 26 ambassador nominees were drawn from the ranks of career foreign service agents compared to 29 from "other," or political, appointees. Biden's current course puts him at 53% political appointees, though many spots remain without a nominee.  A majority of ambassadors being political appointees is rare. NPR reported that historically two-thirds of U.S. ambassadors come from the Foreign Service, while the rest are political appointees.  In January, the association noted 43.5% of outgoing President Trump’s ambassadors were political appointees. That was considered relatively high compared to 30% of politically appointed ambassadors under Presidents Obama, 31% under George W. Bush and 28% by Clinton.