With just a few weeks remaining until President-elect Joe Biden is sworn in as the 46th U.S. President, the mayor of Atlanta has declined Biden’s offer for a Cabinet-level role to join his historically diverse administration.
Rashad Taylor, Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms’ senior adviser, said Biden’s team reached out to Bottoms’ office about a position in his administration, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.
“Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms was honored to have been offered a role in the Cabinet, which she respectfully declined,” Taylor told the AJC.
The Biden Transition Press Office validated Taylor’s statement but did not go into detail about the position Bottoms was asked to occupy. Key Georgia Democrats expressed that Bottoms was in consideration to head the Small Business Administration within the Cabinet, according to the AJC.
“The mayor’s focus remains on the people of Atlanta and the great state of Georgia,” Taylor said. “Out of respect for the process, and the other candidates under consideration, no additional comment will be forthcoming on this matter at this time.”
Despite declining his offer, Bottoms has been a prominent supporter of Biden during his presidential run. As Blavity previously reported, she doubled down on her endorsement of Biden following his clash with Vice President-elect Kamala Harris at the Democratic Debate last year over bipartisanship.
“The larger context was that you have to work across the aisle with people you don’t like, people you don’t agree with,” Bottoms said. “I do it each and every day as mayor of Atlanta in a red state.”
This summer, Bottoms rose as a candidate for Biden’s VP spot and his campaign vetted her as a strong contender for the position, according to NPR. Ultimately, Biden selected Harris as his running mate, making her the first Black woman appointed to the role.
Bottoms was also considered as a top candidate to lead the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), according to the AJC, but Biden named U.S. Rep. Marcia L. Fudge (D-OH) to be HUD secretary on Friday.
Over the weekend, speculation grew on social media that Bottoms had been offered an ambassador role with the Bahamas, but she supposedly turned it down. Taylor denied that the mayor was ever offered ambassadorship, per the AJC.
Bottoms, who has a year left on her term as mayor, said she is running for reelection and a second term, Bizjournals reports.
During her term, Bottoms has worked towards what she described as a "One Atlanta" policy platform centered on economic expansion, affordable housing and criminal justice reform.
Following the police killing of Atlanta resident Rayshard Brooks, Bottoms signed off on a number of orders to limit police use of force, Blavity previously reported.
Brooks was killed during a physical encounter with the police where he managed to wrestle a Taser from police and was shot as he fled on foot.