Biden to pick Rahm Emanuel as U.S. ambassador to Japan

• There were months of speculation around whether Emanuel would be nominated for an administration role. He was reported to be in contention for transportation secretary.
• Emanuel served as a congressman for Illinois between 2003 and 2009 and mayor of Chicago from 2011 to 2019. He opted not to run for a third mayoral term following harsh criticism of his handling of the police shooting of Laquan McDonald, a Black teenager, in Chicago in 2014, per The Guardian.

The big picture: The relationship between the U.S. and Japan has been a focal point of the administration. Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga was the first foreign leader to meet with Biden in person.

Go deeper: Biden and Japan's Suga announce "new era" in U.S.-Japan ties