Barrett Confirmation Hearing Set for Tuesday

Mayor Tom Barrett‘s pending appointment to serve as U.S. Ambassador to Luxembourg could be moving forward.

Barrett missed the Wisconsin Center groundbreaking Thursday because he was in Washington D.C. meeting with Republican U.S. Senate staffers. It appears it was a fruitful meeting.

A hearing on his nomination is now scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 2 before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

His appointment, first announced Aug. 25 by President Joe Biden, previously appeared to be stalled alongside dozens of others as Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) engaged Biden in a proxy war over a Russian gas pipeline.

Cruz, alongside Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisconsin), serves on the committee before which Barrett will appear. The committee is chaired by Bob Menendez (D-New Jersey), with whom Barrett served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1993 through 2003.

But a vote on the nomination has not been scheduled.

Barrett, 67, has served as Milwaukee mayor since 2004 and is the longest-serving big-city mayor in the country. He was re-elected four times, most recently in April 2020.

In his new role he would lead the U.S. embassy in Luxembourg, located in Luxembourg City, and represent the U.S. government. Situated between Germany, France and Belgium, Luxembourg has a population of approximately 620,000, similar to Milwaukee. But despite being one of the smallest countries in Europe, the country is approximately 10 times the size of the City of Milwaukee.

Luxembourg is a sovereign nation led by a monarch, the grand duke. It also has a parliament led by a prime minister. The official language of the country is Luxembourgish, along with administrative languages of German and French.

The ambassador post is currently held by Casey Mace, the embassy’s charge d’affaires (chief of mission). Mace took on the caretaker role after appointed ambassador Randy Evans stepped down following the end of President Donald Trump‘s term in January.

Special Election Timeline

Barrett’s nomination moving forward would set in motion a series of events in Milwaukee.

If and when Barrett steps down, Common Council President Cavalier Johnson would become acting mayor until a special election is called. He would not have to resign from his council seat to become acting mayor, but could not vote during the time he is acting mayor.

State law requires a special election to be called by the Common Council “as promptly as possible.” While it is unknown when Barrett would be confirmed and step down, the date of the special election would be between 62 and 77 days from when it is ordered by the council.

Put simply, if Barrett resigns and the council calls a special election between Nov. 15 and Dec. 28, the special election would take place alongside the non-partisan spring elections. That would save the city the approximately $350,000 cost of staging a standalone election said Milwaukee Election Commission Executive Director Claire Woodall-Vogg earlier this month.

A primary would be held Feb. 15 and a general election April 5. The position is non-partisan.

Johnson was the first to file for the race. Sheriff Earnell Lucas is also running, as is current alderwoman Marina Dimitrijevic and former alderman Robert Donovan. Other candidates that have filed include entrepreneur and Swarmm Events founder Michael Sampson, activist and former aldermanic candidate Nicholas McVey and Sheila Conley-Patterson.

The winner of the special election would not get a full four-year term, but instead the remainder of Barrett’s term, which ends in April 2024.