Two Senate Dems oppose Biden’s nomination of Rahm Emanuel for U.S. ambassador

President Biden’s nomination of former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel for U.S. ambassador to Japan ran into opposition Wednesday from two Senate Democrats, one of whom said that as mayor he only gave lip service to Black Lives Matter.

The Democrats’ opposition wasn’t enough to block the nomination in Wednesday’s committee vote. But Sen. Jeff Merkley delivered a stinging rebuke of Mr. Emanuel’s handling of the 2014 police murder of Laquan McDonald, a 17-year-old Black Chicago resident.

“Black Lives Matter,” Mr. Merkley said. “Here in the halls of Congress, it is important that we not just speak and believe these words, but put them into action in the decisions we make.”

Mr. Emanuel’s nomination still sailed through the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in a voice vote. Only one Republican on the committee, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, joined the two Democrats in opposing Mr. Emanuel, who also served as President Obama’s White House chief of staff.

The other Democrat to vote against him was Sen. Edward J. Markey of Massachusetts.

Among the Republicans supporting the nomination were Sen. James E. Risch of Idaho, the committee’s ranking member, and Sen. Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, a former U.S. ambassador to Japan.

After a White police officer killed McDonald, the Emanuel administration refused to release the police dashcam video of the killing for more than a year. The city only made it public after being forced to by a state court.

At the time, Mr. Emanuel said his hands were tied by state law governing the release of police video.

The video, which showed McDonald moving away from Chicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke at the time of the fight, refuted Van Dyke’s claims that he was acting in self-defense.

Van Dyke was convicted of second-degree murder and 16 counts of aggravated battery and sentenced to just under seven years in prison in 2018. But many argued that the delayed release of the footage helped Van Dyke evade justice.

Several House Democrats have called for their Senate colleagues to block Mr. Emanuel’s nomination.

Mr. Merkley heeded their call.

“I have carefully considered Mayor Emanuel’s record — and the input of civil rights leaders, criminal justice experts, and local elected officials who have reached out to the Senate to weigh in — and I have reached the decision that I cannot support his nomination to serve as a U.S. ambassador,” said Mr. Merkley.