The Hill reports that the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (SFRC) on Thursday unanimously approved the following nominees for ambassadorships, setting up their possible approval by the full Senate before the August recess.

• The Honorable Gene Allan Cretz, of New York, to be Ambassador to the Republic of Ghana
• Ms. Deborah Ruth Malac, of Virginia, to be Ambassador to the Republic of Liberia
• Mr. David Bruce Wharton, of Virginia, to be Ambassador to the Republic of Zimbabwe
• Mr. Alexander Mark Laskaris, of Maryland, to be Ambassador to the Republic of Guinea
• The Honorable Marcie B. Ries, of the District of Columbia, to be an Ambassador to the Republic of Bulgaria
• Mr. John M. Koenig, of Washington, to be Ambassador to the Republic of Cyprus
• The Honorable Michael David Kirby, of Virginia, to be Ambassador to the Republic of Serbia
• Mr. Thomas Hart Armbruster, of New York, to be Ambassador to the Republic of the Marshall Islands
• Ms. Greta Christine Holtz, of Maryland, to be Ambassador to the Sultanate of Oman

The nine nominees will now join Carlos Pascual in the wait for the confirmation of the full senate. Mr. Pascual who was nominated to be the State Department’s first Assistant Secretary of State for Energy Resources was cleared by the SFRC in March 2012.