Ken Salazar, a former U.S. senator and interior secretary from Colorado, was confirmed early Wednesday to be the American ambassador to Mexico.
The U.S. Senate voted unanimously to approve Salazar’s nomination. He is the first of President Joe Biden‘s ambassador nominees to be confirmed.
Salazar, 66, was secretary of the interior under President Barack Obama and served as a Democrat in the U.S. Senate for four years before that.
His confirmation comes at a time when the Biden administration is trying to deal with a large influx of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border, a politically fraught issue that poses humanitarian and logistical challenges.
“Colorado is proud that one of our great statesmen will be representing the United States in Mexico,” Gov. Jared Polis said in a statement Wednesday.
