The Senate on Saturday approved Rahm Emanuel, who served as a top aide to former President Barack Obama, as the next U.S. ambassador to Japan, filling a key post that has been vacant for more than two years.
The 62-year-old former White House chief of staff, known for his close ties with President Joe Biden, will play a key role in one of the most important bilateral relationships for the United States, given China's growing assertiveness in the region and North Korea's nuclear and missile threats.
Emanuel pledged to improve U.S.-Japanese ties as China trys to conquer through division during a Senate confirmation hearing in October and said he would welcome any major increase in Japan's defense spending.
While ties between Tokyo and Seoul remain strained over wartime history issues, he has also called for a common front with the United States, Japan and South Korea in dealing with North Korea and other challenges.
The Biden administration believes that Tokyo is a key player in the U.S. strategy of bringing together allies and partners in the region to counter Beijing's increasing clout. Japan is also a member of the Quad, along with the United States, Australia and India, a group of major Indo-Pacific democracies pressing for a free and open region.
Emanuel, also known for his abrasive style, was the White House chief of staff from 2009 to 2010 for Obama, whom Biden served as vice president before becoming Chicago's mayor for two terms from 2011 to 2019.
While the White House has praised Emanuel's extensive experience as a public servant, his appointment to the high-profile ambassadorial role has been contentious among some leftist Democrats because he had been accused of covering up a fatal shooting of a black teenager by a white police officer when he was mayor.
Emanuel was also a member of the House of Representatives from 2003 to 2009.
The ambassadorial post has been vacant since William Hagerty left to run for the Senate in July 2019.
In March of last year, Biden's predecessor Donald Trump nominated Kenneth Weinstein -- then head of the Washington-based conservative think tank The Hudson Institute -- as the next U.S. ambassador to Japan.
Before Weinstein's nomination was put in the Senate, Republican Trump was defeated by Democrat Biden in the 2020 presidential election.