Mayors of US cities wield considerable influence and power controlling police, the taxation and budget, and schools. As the mayor of the second-largest US city with a population of nearly four million e more than the population 21 US states have e and a budget of $11.2 billion, Garcetti has relatively significant administrative experience and political clout. He was offered a position by Biden in his administration, but he said he turned it down because "my city needs me now".

Fifteen of the 23 ambassadors in New Delhi have been political appointees and included distinguished personalities like former governors Richard Frank Celeste and Chester Bowles (who served twice), former members of Congress including Kenneth Keating, Sherman Cooper and William Saxbe, and public intellectuals like John Kenneth Galbraith and Daniel Patrick Moynihan, who had also been a senator.

Meanwhile, several media reports have said that Nicholas Burns, who has advised Biden on international affairs, is under consideration for ambassador to China. He had been the main US negotiator with India for the civil nuclear agreement.

Starting as a career diplomat, he has held senior positions in Democratic and Republican administrations. He was the under-secretary of state for political affairs in the administration of former President George W. Bush and a special assistant to former President Bill Clinton. He is now a professor at Harvard University.