Burns, a career diplomat and longtime foreign policy hand, has served presidents of both parties. If confirmed, he would assume one of the most critical ambassador posts in the administration, with the rise of China at the center of almost important policy discussions.

Burns is a former member of the Foreign Service and served as Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, Ambassador to NATO and to Greece, State Department spokesman, and on the National Security Council staff on Soviet and Russian Affairs. He currently serves in roles at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, the Aspen Strategy Group and Security Forum, and the Cohen Group.

The White House on Friday also announced the nomination of Michael Battle to serve as ambassador to Tanzania.

Battle's work has spanned diplomacy to theology in academia to the military. Notably, he was the US representative to the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and the US ambassador to the African Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

And currently, despite Biden having been in office for more than six months, the only ambassador to a nation confirmed so far has been Ken Salazar's post to be US ambassador to Mexico. He was confirmed a week ago.

The President went more than two months into his presidency without naming a single ambassador to send overseas. But in the last month alone, his nominations have included ambassadorial nominations to Equatorial Guinea, Switzerland, Argentina, Singapore, the Central African Republic, Spain, and Mozambique, among other ambassador-rank positions.

This story has been updated with additional information.