Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms says she declined a position in Biden's cabinet

• The office of Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms on Saturday told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that she declined an offer to serve in the cabinet of President-elect Joe Biden.
• Her office also refuted rumors she had been offered an ambassadorship.
• Bottoms, considered a rising star among Democrats, had previously been considered for the role of Biden's vice president before he ultimately selected Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.

Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottom has declined an offer to serve in President-elect Joe Biden's cabinet, her office said in a statement Saturday.

"Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms was honored to have been offered a role in the Cabinet, which she respectfully declined," Rashad Taylor, Bottoms' senior adviser, said in a statement to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The spokesperson declined to state what the position was but refuted rumors that Lance Bottoms had been offered an ambassadorship.

"The Mayor's focus remains on the people of Atlanta and the great state of Georgia," he said. "Out of respect for the process, and the other candidates under consideration, no additional comment will be forthcoming on this matter at this time."

Bottoms, a former judge and city council member, was elected as Atlanta mayor in 2017 and had also previously been considered for the role of vice president before Biden settled on his former competitor, California Sen. Kamala Harris, as his running mate.

The Atlanta mayor rose to prominence this year for her headline-making clashes with Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican, over measures to curb the spread of COVID-19. This summer, Kemp sued to block Bottoms' order requiring face masks in Atlanta, though he later dropped the suit.

Bottoms also made headlines this year for her handling of protests against police brutality and racism in Atlanta following the death of Georgia Floyd in Minneapolis in May, which sparked nationwide demonstrations.

"What I see happening on the streets of Atlanta is not Atlanta. This is not a protest," she said in June following a night of chaotic demonstrations in her city. "This is not in the spirit of Martin Luther King, Jr. This is chaos."

According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Bottoms had also been rumored to have been considered to serve as Biden's Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, though those rumors proved untrue when he last week announced he intended to nominate Ohio Rep. Marcia Fudge to that position.

Some had speculated that Bottoms, an early and vocal supporter of Biden during his presidential campaign, would be tapped to lead the Small Business Administration, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.