Daily Archives: January 1, 2019

Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis Pens Farewell Message to Pentagon and Troops

January 1, 2019 By in Defense Department, Federal Agencies, Public Service, Top Ranks, Trends, Trump, Uncategorized Tags: , , , ,

Yo Wanna Spank Schumer But Not @Senatemajldr McConnell For Non-Confirmation of Ambassadors? Very Unfair!

January 1, 2019 By in Confirmations, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Service, Nominations, Political Appointees, Politics, Realities of the FS, Senate Hold, Senators, SFRC, Staffing the FS, State Department, Top Ranks, Trends, Trump, U.S. Senate, UN, USAID Tags: , , , , , ,

It looks like the President of the United States is ending 2018 by ranting that “heads of countries” are calling and asking why Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer “is not approving their otherwise approved Ambassadors.” Well, first, to be clear, if they are really calling the WH asking about this, they would not be calling about “their otherwise approved ambassadors” because that would mean, these countries are calling about “their” ambassadors representing them in Washington. As far as we know, the U.S. Senate is not the entity that grants agrément for foreign diplomats to be appointed to the United States.

The president appears to be talking about U.S. Ambassadors nominated to foreign countries, which means, these are “our” ambassadors, and not these countries’ ambassadors even if they are assigned to these mysterious countries (whose “heads of countries” are um apparently “calling” and asking about stuff). If this is kinda confusing, try and imagine Saudi Arabia’s MBS or Turkey’s Erdogan calling the WH and asking what Schumer did to “their otherwise approved Ambassador” – that is, the Saudi Arabian and Turkish Ambassadors to the United States. They would not call the U.S. Ambassadors destined to their respective countries “their” ambassadors. We doubt if MBS would even call and ask what Schumer did to John Abizaid, Trump’s nominee to be the U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia. Why would he? He got you know who. Would Erdogan call and ask what Schumer did to Trump’s nominee to be U.S. Ambassador to Turkey? He wouldn’t, cmon. There isn’t one.

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1079830268708556800

Second, we should note that there are indeed multiple nominees pending on the Senate Calendar and waiting for their full Senate votes. Except for two nominations who are subjects to two Democratic Senate holds, the rest of the nominees have been waiting for GOP Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to put them up for a vote. Over the past year, the GOP appeared to prioritized the confirmation of judicial nominees. In the last 12 months, approximately 70 Judiciary nominees were confirmed while only about 47 State Department nominees were confirmed for the same duration (excluding USAID, UN, and Foreign Service lists).

We have a separate post on the nominations that are currently pending at the SFRC. We are anticipating that most of these nominees will be renominated at the beginning of the next Congress, and that most of them will probably get confirmation from the Senate given the GOP’s expanded majority in the 116th Congress. We don’t know how many more judicial nominees the GOP is planning to shovel through the confirmation process, however, but if there is a large enough number, those again could have an impact on the speed of confirmation for State Department nominees.

Below are the nominations pending in the Executive Calendar. May be there is a potential for the U.S. Senate to have mass confirmation of these nominations on January 2? You all can hope, right? We’ll have to wait and see. 

DEPARTMENT OF STATE

Carol Z. Perez, of Virginia, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of MinisterCounselor, to be Director General of the Foreign Service, vice Arnold A. Chacon, resigned.

Ellen E. McCarthy, of Virginia, to be an Assistant Secretary of State (Intelligence and Research), vice Daniel Bennett Smith.

Stephen Akard, of Indiana, to be Director of the Office of Foreign Missions, with the rank of Ambassador, vice Gentry O. Smith, resigned.

AMBASSADORS (CAREER)

Lynne M. Tracy, of Ohio, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of MinisterCounselor, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Armenia.

Christopher Paul Henzel, of Virginia, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Minister-Counselor, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Yemen.

Sarah-Ann Lynch, of Maryland, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Minister-Counselor, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Co-operative Republic of Guyana

Earle D. Litzenberger, of California, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Minister-Counselor, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Azerbaijan.

Matthew John Matthews, of Virginia, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Minister-Counselor, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to Brunei Darussalam.

Michael S. Klecheski, of New York, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Minister-Counselor, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Mongolia.

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@StateDept Nominations: Pending in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee as of December 31, 2018

January 1, 2019 By in Congress, Nominations, SFRC, State Department, Trump, U.S. Senate Tags: , , , ,

The following are the State Department nominees pending in the SFRC as of December 31, 2018. At least three nominations (Fischer, Rizzuto, and Manchester) have been renominations submitted in January 2018. NYT’s piece, Special Envoys Were Once Disdained Under Trump. Now They’re Popping Up All Over, includes a few details about two of these three nominees. Also read, Ted Cruz signals fight over Trump diplomat pick who spread ‘tinfoil hat’ conspiracy theories about him.

2018-11-26 PN2673 Foreign Service | Nomination for Cynthia K. Duerr, which nomination was received by the Senate and appeared in the Congressional Record on November 26, 2018.

2018-11-26 PN2672 Foreign Service | Nominations beginning James J. Higgiston, and ending Bobby G. Richey, Jr., which 2 nominations were received by the Senate and appeared in the Congressional Record on November 26, 2018.

2018-11-15 PN2650 Department of State | Matthew H. Tueller, of Utah, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Minister-Counselor, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Iraq.

2018-11-15 PN2649 Peace Corps | Alan R. Swendiman, of North Carolina, to be Deputy Director of the Peace Corps.

2018-11-15 PN2648 Department of State | Lana J. Marks, of Florida, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of South Africa.

2018-11-15 PN2647 Department of State | Brett P. Giroir, of Texas, to be Representative of the United States on the Executive Board of the World Health Organization.

2018-11-15 PN2646 Department of State | James S. Gilmore, of Virginia, to be U.S. Representative to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, with the rank of Ambassador.

2018-11-15 PN2644 Department of State | Kate Marie Byrnes, of Florida, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Minister-Counselor, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Macedonia.

2018-11-15 PN2643 Department of State | John P. Abizaid, of Nevada, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

2018-11-13 PN2622-2 Foreign Service | Nomination for Jay P. Williams, which nomination was received by the Senate and appeared in the Congressional Record on November 13, 2018.

2018-11-13 PN2580 Department of State | David Stilwell, of Hawaii, to be an Assistant Secretary of State (East Asian and Pacific Affairs).

2018-11-13 PN2579 Department of State | Mary Catherine Phee, of Illinois, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Minister-Counselor, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the State of Qatar.

2018-11-13 PN2578 Department of State | Kenneth A. Howery, of Texas, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Kingdom of Sweden.

2018-11-13 PN2577 Department of State | Edward F. Crawford, of Ohio, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to Ireland.

2018-10-05 PN2557 Department of State | Ronald Douglas Johnson, of Florida, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of El Salvador.

2018-09-28 PN2546 Department of State | Jeffrey L. Eberhardt, of Wisconsin, a Career Member of the Senior Executive Service, to be Special Representative of the President for Nuclear Nonproliferation, with the rank of Ambassador.

2018-09-28 PN2545 United Nations | Andrew P. Bremberg, of Virginia, to be Representative of the United States of America to the Office of the United Nations and Other International Organizations in Geneva, with the rank of Ambassador.

2018-09-28 PN2544 Trade and Development Agency | Darrell E. Issa, of California, to be Director of the Trade and Development Agency.

2018-09-24 PN2532 United Nations | Elizabeth Erin Walsh, of the District of Columbia, to be a Representative of the United States of America to the Seventy-third Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations.

2018-09-24 PN2530 United Nations | Margarita Palau-Hernandez, of California, to be a Representative of the United States of America to the Seventy-third Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations.

2018-09-24 PN2528 United States Agency for International Development | Mina Chang, of Texas, to be an Assistant Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development.

2018-09-24 PN2527 Department of State | Pamela Bates, of Virginia, to be Representative of the United States of America to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, with the rank of Ambassador.

2018-09-12 PN2513 Department of State |Austin M. Smith, of South Carolina, to be an Alternate Representative of the United States of America to the Sessions of the General Assembly of the United Nations during his tenure of service as Alternate Representative of the United States of America for Special Political Affairs in the United Nations.

2018-09-12 PN2512 Department of State | Austin M. Smith, of South Carolina, to be Alternate Representative of the United States of America for Special Political Affairs in the United Nations, with the rank of Ambassador.

2018-08-28 PN2470 International Joint Commission, United States and Canada | Lance V. Yohe, of North Dakota, to be Commissioner on the part of the United States on the International Joint Commission, United States and Canada.

2018-08-28 PN2469 International Joint Commission, United States and Canada | Robert C. Sisson, of Michigan, to be Commissioner on the part of the United States on the International Joint Commission, United States and Canada.

2018-08-28 PN2468 International Joint Commission, United States and Canada | Jane L. Corwin, of New York, to be Commissioner on the part of the United States on the International Joint Commission, United States and Canada.

2018-08-27 PN2444 Department of State | Marshall Billingslea, of Virginia, to be an Under Secretary of State (Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights).

2018-08-21 PN2430 Department of State | Michael J. Fitzpatrick, of Virginia, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Minister-Counselor, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Ecuador.

2018-08-16 PN2394 Department of State | W. Patrick Murphy, of Vermont, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Minister-Counselor, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Kingdom of Cambodia.

2018-07-31 PN2351 Department of State | Adrian Zuckerman, of New Jersey, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to Romania.

2018-07-09 PN2233 Department of State | Kathleen Ann Kavalec, of California, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Minister-Counselor, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Albania.

2018-07-09 PN2232 Department of State | R. Clarke Cooper, of Florida, to be an Assistant Secretary of State (Political-Military Affairs).

2018-06-25 PN2207 Department of State | Robert A. Destro, of Virginia, to be Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor.

2018-06-18 PN2139 Department of State | Brian J. Bulatao, of Texas, to be an Under Secretary of State (Management).

2018-06-11 PN2131-2 Foreign Service | Nominations beginning Jeffries Blunt de Graffenried, Jr., and ending Omar Robles, which 2 nominations were received by the Senate and appeared in the Congressional Record on June 11, 2018.

2018-06-04 PN2052 Broadcasting Board of Governors | Michael Pack, of Maryland, to be Chief Executive Officer of the Broadcasting Board of Governors for the term of three years.

2018-05-24 PN2032 Department of State | Christine J. Toretti, of Pennsylvania, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Malta.

2018-05-24 PN2029 Department of State | Ronald Mortensen, of Utah, to be an Assistant Secretary of State (Population, Refugees, and Migration).

2018-05-21 PN2021 Department of State | John Rakolta, Jr., of Michigan, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the United Arab Emirates.

2018-04-09 PN1801-2 Foreign Service | Nomination for Dao Le, which nomination was received by the Senate and appeared in the Congressional Record on April 9, 2018.

2018-04-09 PN1769 Department of State |David Schenker, of New Jersey, to be an Assistant Secretary of State (Near Eastern Affairs).

2018-03-12 PN1744-4 Foreign Service | Nominations beginning Keisha L. Effiom, and ending Robin Sharma, which 2 nominations were received by the Senate and appeared in the Congressional Record on March 12, 2018.

2018-01-08 PN1384 Department of State | Doug Manchester, of California, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Commonwealth of The Bahamas.

2018-01-08 PN1379 Department of State | Leandro Rizzuto, of New Jersey, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to Barbados, and to serve concurrently and without additional compensation as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Antigua and Barbuda, the Commonwealth of Dominica, Grenada, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

2017-12-01 PN1290 Department of State | David T. Fischer, of Michigan, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Kingdom of Morocco.