WH withdraws Republican donor's Ambassadorship bid

Washington, Nov 14 (IANS) The White House formally withdrew the nomination Republican donor Doug Manchester as the US Ambassador to the Bahamas.The withdrawal on Wednesday came after the White House had submitted the multi-millionaire's nomination to the US Senate in May 2017, January 2018 and January 2019, but the nomination never proceeded to a floor vote despite being at one time approved by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on a party-line vote, reports Xinhua news agency.Manchester issued a statement on October 31, saying he withdrew himself for consideration for the ambassadorship "due to the threats on his and his family's lives", US media reported.Manchester is a real estate developer based in San Diego, California, and an active donor for Republican politicians at both state and national levels. According to reports, Manchester and his wife together contributed nearly $1 million to the Trump campaign in 2016.It is a common practice for US presidents to award ambassadorships to big political donors, even when the nominees lack sufficient experience in business politics and foreign affairs.
--IANS ksk/