According to a statement from Rashad Taylor, Bottoms’ senior adviser, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms declined a position in President-elect Joe Biden’s Cabinet.
What We Know:
- Taylor’s statement to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution read, “Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms was honored to have been offered a role in the Cabinet, which she respectfully declined.” The position offered to the Mayor is still unknown.
- Speculation circulated around Twitter on Friday after a reporter tweeted that Bottoms had been offered the opportunity to be the ambassador to the Bahamas but turned it down. To this, Taylor responded, “She was never offered an Ambassadorship.”
- Taylor addressed the reasoning for the Mayor’s refusal, stating, “The Mayor’s focus remains on the people of Atlanta and the great state of Georgia.” “Out of respect for the process, and the other candidates under consideration, no additional comment will be forthcoming on this matter at this time,” he adds.
- The Biden Transition Press Office confirmed the statement, yet they did not respond to the question concerning which Cabinet position was offered to the mayor. According to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, several Georgia Democrat leaders have reported that Bottoms was in the running to lead the Small Business Administration, a Cabinet-level post.
- Earlier this year, the Biden campaign vetted Bottoms for Vice President, which many agreed was a position she had a likely chance of gaining before Biden chose former-presidential candidate Kamala Harris, a Democratic Senator from California.
- Even after Bottoms’ time as a contender for the Vice Presidential seat, she was considered a top contender to lead the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. This was before the President-elect appointed U.S. Rep. Marcia L. Fudge, a Democrat from Ohio, to be HUD secretary on Friday.
Bottoms plans to run for reelection in 2021, as she only has one year left on her term.
