Confirmations: Gutmann (Germany), Carty (ECOSOC), Albright (MCC), Wong (ADB)

 

2022-02-08 PN1577 Department of State | Amy Gutmann, of Pennsylvania, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Federal Republic of Germany.

2022-02-08 PN1567 Department of State | Lisa A. Carty, of Maryland, to be Representative of the United States of America on the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations, with the rank of Ambassador.

2022-02-07 PN1362 Millennium Challenge Corporation | Alice P. Albright, of the District of Columbia, to be Chief Executive Officer, Millennium Challenge Corporation.

2022-02-08 PN782 Asian Development Bank | Chantale Yokmin Wong, of the District of Columbia, to be United States Director of the Asian Development Bank, with the rank of Ambassador.

Senate Cuts Loose 44 @StateDept/USAID Hostages, Two FS Lists Before Running Out the Door

 

The Senate adjourned for the holiday break early morning Saturday at 4:04am ET. The Senate returns on Monday, January 3, 2022 for the beginning of the 2nd session of the 117th Congress.
Except for Rahm Emanuel (nominee for Japan) and Atul Atmaram Gawande (nominee for USAID), all nominations in this group were confirmed via voice vote. See, it wasn’t hard, was it?
Many more nominees are stuck in super glue in the Senate’s Executive Calendar. Over 50 more are pending in Committee. We don’t know how many will require renominations in January.
We expect that some senators will continue to play the game of hold next year because there are no consequences from voters for these actions. Politico’s Global Insider on December 17 notes that the confirmation mess will continue to grow. Apparently, some nominees were even told by the administration to “lobby for themselves.” What-the-what? Happy holidays and that’s not in$$$ane at all!

AMBASSADORSHIPS: CAREER FOREIGN SERVICE

2021-12-18 PN377 ALGERIA – Elizabeth Moore Aubin, 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 People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria.

2021-12-18 PN382 ANGOLA/SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE – Tulinabo S. Mushingi, of Virginia, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Counselor, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Angola, and to serve concurrently and without additional compensation as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe.

2021-12-18 PN378 BAHRAIN – Steven C. Bondy, of New Jersey, 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 Bahrain.

2021-12-18 PN786 BANGLADESH – Peter D. Haas, 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 People’s Republic of Bangladesh.

2021-12-18 PN1009 BENIN – Brian Wesley Shukan, 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 Benin.

2021-12-18 PN911 BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA – Michael J. Murphy, 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 Bosnia and Herzegovina.

2021-12-18 PN910 BRUNEI – Caryn R. McClelland, 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 Brunei Darussalam.

2021-12-18 PN732 THE GAMBIA – Sharon L. Cromer, of New York, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Career Minister, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of The Gambia.

2021-12-18 PN381 CAMEROON – Christopher John Lamora, of Rhode Island, 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 Cameroon.

2021-12-18 PN937 CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC – Patricia Mahoney, 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 Central African Republic.

2021-12-18 PN417 REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO – Eugene S. Young, 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 the Congo.

2021-12-18 PN1033 EQUATORIAL GUINEA – David R. Gilmour, of the District of Columbia, 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 Equatorial Guinea.

2021-12-18 PN733 GUINEA – Troy Damian Fitrell, of Virginia, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Counselor, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Guinea.

2021-12-18 PN379 LESOTHO – Maria E. Brewer, 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 Kingdom of Lesotho.

2021-12-18 PN873 MOLDOVA – Kent Doyle Logsdon, of Pennsylvania, 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 Moldova.

2021-12-18 PN939 MOZAMBIQUE – Peter Hendrick Vrooman, 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 Mozambique.

2021-12-18 PN383 SENEGAL/GUINEA-BISSAU – Michael Raynor, 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 Republic of Senegal, and to serve concurrently and without additional compensation as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Guinea-Bissau.

2021-12-18 PN376 SOMALIA – Larry Edward Andre, Jr., of Texas, 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 Federal Republic of Somalia.

2021-12-18 PN897 SRI LANKA – Julie Chung, 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 Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka.

2021-12-18 PN1005 TOGOLESE REPUBLIC – Elizabeth Anne Noseworthy Fitzsimmons, of Delaware, 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 Togolese Republic.

2021-12-18 PN380 VIETNAM – Marc Evans Knapper, 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 Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

AMBASSADORSHIP: CAREER EXECUTIVE SERVICE

2021-12-18 PN734 PARAGUAY – Marc Ostfield, of Pennsylvania, a Career Member of the Senior Executive Service, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Paraguay.

AMBASSADORSHIPS: NON-CAREER/POLITICAL APPOINTEES

2021-12-18 PN1029 ARGENTINA – Marc R. Stanley, of Texas, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Argentine Republic.

2021-12-18 PN1225 BELGIUM – Michael M. Adler, of Florida, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Kingdom of Belgium.

2021-12-18 PN738 COSTA RICA – Cynthia Ann Telles, of California, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Costa Rica.

2021-12-18 PN785 FRANCE/MONACO – Denise Campbell Bauer, of California, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the French Republic, and to serve concurrently and without additional compensation as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Principality of Monaco.

2021-12-18 PN774 IRELAND – Claire D. Cronin, of Massachusetts, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to Ireland.

2021-12-18 PN1004 POLAND – Mark Brzezinski, of Virginia, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Poland.

2021-12-18 PN938 SPAIN/ANDORRA – Julissa Reynoso Pantaleon, of New York, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Kingdom of Spain, and to serve concurrently and without additional compensation as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Principality of Andorra.

2021-12-18 PN958 SLOVENIA – Jamie L. Harpootlian, of South Carolina, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Slovenia.

2021-12-18 PN1226 SWEDEN – Erik D. Ramanathan, of Massachusetts, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Kingdom of Sweden.

2021-12-18 PN1030 SWITZERLAND/LIECHTENSTEIN – Scott Miller, of Colorado, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Swiss Confederation, and to serve concurrently and without additional compensation as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Principality of Liechtenstein.

2021-12-18 PN1058 JAPAN – Rahm Emanuel, of Illinois, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to Japan.

STATE DEPARTMENT

2021-12-18 PN922 MANAGEMENT – John R. Bass, of New York, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Career Minister, to be an Under Secretary of State (Management).

2021-12-18 PN384 STATE/IO – Michele Jeanne Sison, of Maryland, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Career Ambassador, to be an Assistant Secretary of State (International Organization Affairs).

2021-12-18 PN616 STATE/PROTOCOL – Rufus Gifford, of Massachusetts, to be Chief of Protocol, and to have the rank of Ambassador during his tenure of service.

2021-12-18 PN547 Department of State – Adam Scheinman, of Virginia, to be Special Representative of the President for Nuclear Nonproliferation, with the rank of Ambassador.

2021-12-18 PN776 Department of State – Bathsheba Nell Crocker, of the District of Columbia, 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.

2021-12-18 PN781 Department of State – Jack A. Markell, of Delaware, to be Representative of the United States of America to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, with the rank of Ambassador.

2021-12-18 PN552 Department of State – Christopher P. Lu, of Virginia, to be Representative of the United States of America to the United Nations for U.N. Management and Reform, with the rank of Ambassador.

2021-12-18 PN553 Department of State – Christopher P. Lu, of Virginia, 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 Representative of the United States of America to the United Nations for U.N. Management and Reform.

2021-12-18 PN934 Department of State – Mark Gitenstein, of Washington, to be Representative of the United States of America to the European Union, with the rank and status of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary.

2021-12-18 PN935 Department of State – Laura S. H. Holgate, of Virginia, to be Representative of the United States of America to the Vienna Office of the United Nations, with the rank of Ambassador.

 

USAID

2021-12-18 PN415 Marcela Escobari, of Massachusetts, to be an Assistant Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development.

2021-12-17 PN874 Atul Atmaram Gawande, of Massachusetts, to be an Assistant Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development.

FOREIGN SERVICE LISTS

2021-12-16 PN726 Foreign Service | Nominations beginning Arthur W. Brown, and ending Peter C. Trenchard, which 35 nominations were received by the Senate and appeared in the Congressional Record on June 22, 2021.

2021-12-16 PN728-1 Foreign Service | Nominations beginning Rahel Aboye, and ending Kyra Turner Zogbekor, which 153 nominations were received by the Senate and appeared in the Congressional Record on June 22, 2021.

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Related post:

 

Senate Releases Burns (China), Toloui (EB), Hussain (IRF), Barrett (Luxembourg) From Confirmation Super Glue

 

On December 16, the U.S. Senate was able to released four State Department nominees from the body’s confirmation tacky super glue. There were logged senate votes for the first three nominees (China, EB, IRF), and for the confirmation of the Ambassador to Luxembourg, a simple voice vote.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer also tweeted “I have filed cloture to start the process on more than 20 of President Biden’s nominees. These nominees are vital to addressing the national security and economic challenges of our nation. We will work until they are all confirmed by this chamber.”
It was for 22 nominations to be exact. 12 out of 22 are @StateDept nominations. 1 of 12 is a career diplomat (going to Vietnam). In the Senate priorities on which nominations should be confirmed first, former senators and widows of senators are obviously on top of the list, followed by the donor class and the friends with connections class, and then if there is still time, they may also confirm the career folks before they end their session for the holidays. Otherwise, it may not look  good; although that does not seem to matter anymore these days.  Phuey! I supposed we can stick with the hamsters’ motto of the more things change, the more things stay the same. Amen.
Related post:

How to Fix Cancún Cruz’s Blockade? Send All Pending Nominees Out as Special Presidential Envoys

 

That’s right.
Skip the  boring U.S. Senate votes.
President Biden ought to just send out all the pending nominees for ambassadors as Special Presidential Envoys to countries around the globe. If the nominees have cleared the SFRC but have been subjected to the blanket hold by senators chasing their presidential ambitions in laughable displays, President Biden should just save these senators from their jobs, and appoint his nominees as Special Presidential Envoys. He should then swear-in all the SPEs at the White House and send them off packing to get to their new posts ASAP. The Special Presidential Envoys would still need to report to the geographic assistant secretaries in Foggy Bottom, but they will be at our missions overseas instead of being held hostages in Washington D.C.
Back in 2014, the GOP Senate did the same thing with President Obama’s nominees. At that time we wrote:

Certainly, a mass appointment of Special Presidential Envoys would be a bad precedent.  We are also pretty sure our U.S. Senate would be terribly unhappy and offended if President Obama simply announce the appointments of five dozen Special Presidential Envoys in place of his ambassadors. And without the advice and consent of the Senate. Of course, they would!

(Gosh! If this happens,we would missed a whole lot of informative and entertaining performances on C-Span).

That said, if our senators cannot do kumbaya work for the sake of the United States, if they continue trading blame on why the nominees are stuck in the Senate, and if they kept on putting party before country, why then should we mind if they are offended and get ulcers?

Right now, the two parties are not trading blame.
It’s just one party that has long lost control of its screaming children (oh let’s not even start about the best quality people they have in the House). It is bonkers that one or two senators could place a blanket hold on nominees with no relation to their pet issues or even without any pet issue. One senator placed a hold on nominations unless two cabinet secretaries resign. One senator wanted diplomats to”not get invited to parties” in China. This senator must think diplomats go to diplomatic receptions and parties for fun; just how deep is this willful ignorance?
These senators went to the best schools, and have been in office for a while; they must realized the consequences their actions have on our overseas missions. So, no, it’s not that they don’t know that their actions have consequences. It’s simply that they don’t care. Whatever consequences may befall our overseas missions due to their actions; they don’t care. There’s no way around that reality.
But surely, these senators’ pet issues are the most important issues in all the world, right? More important than our country’s standing in the world. More important than the perceptions among foreign audience that the United States is screwy these days. Also more important than finding out who’s to blame for the January 6 insurrection. Servants of the people serving their own selves and ambitions. Oh, yes, aren’t we lucky to be served by these servants who loved our country more than they love their own pretty selves? Give them an applause, please.
But go ahead, Joe … make our day and give these senators some goddamn ulcers!
Release all the Special Presidential Envoys into the wild (and not so wild places)!
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Related post:

Dear Senators, Do You Really Want President Obama to Appoint 65 Special Presidential Envoys?

 

U.S. Senate Confirms C.B. Sullenberger III as Ambassador to ICAO

 

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Prince Talleyrand Talks “Not getting hands dirty” and Hostage Diplomacy with US Senate

 

Via Prince Tallleyrand (retired statesman) with commentary on diplomacy and world affairs and goes by ‘surtout, pas trop de zèle’ by way of introduction:
“So far as one can tell, there are no major diplomatic initiatives, negotiations, or plans awaiting delivery. Those boxes are ticked, with one botched announcement of a submarine deal with Australia and Britain, and another, more badly botched withdrawal from Afghanistan. The president and the secretary did not escape criticism in those instances but neither man got his hands too dirty.
Not getting hands dirty so far appears to be the main principle at play. There is an effort being waged by a special envoy, a boyhood friend of the secretary, to salvage the Iranian nuclear deal. There is another effort waged by a special envoy, a diplomat pulled out of retirement, to keep a larger regional conflict from breaking out in East Africa. There is yet another effort waged by a special envoy, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency, to stand between Russia and Ukraine as the two nations threaten to go to war. There is another such envoy, a holdover from previous administrations, overseeing diplomacy towards Iraq and Syria. And there is John Kerry shuttling around the world battling climate change.
About the only major effort engaging the highest levels of the administration directly is its hostage diplomacy with the US Senate over the confirmation of presidential nominees.”
Hostage diplomacy, indeed! My favorite post remain that thing about porcupines and strategic ambiguity.
Read more here.

Confirmations: Smith (NATO), Hovenier (Kosovo), Kaplan (Singapore) and FS Lists

 

 

2021-11-18 PN736 USNATO | Julianne Smith, of Michigan, to be United States Permanent Representative on the Council of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, with the rank and status of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary.
2021-11-18 PN779 Kosovo | Jeffrey M. Hovenier, of Washington, 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 Kosovo.
2021-11-19 PN952 Sinapore |  Jonathan Eric Kaplan, of California, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Singapore.
FS LISTS
2021-11-19 PN480-1 Foreign Service | Nominations beginning Christopher Alexander, and ending Mark Russell, which 31 nominations were received by the Senate and appeared in the Congressional Record on April 27, 2021.
2021-11-19 PN725 Foreign Service | Nominations beginning Jim Nelson Barnhart, Jr., and ending Teresa L. McGhie, which 3 nominations were received by the Senate and appeared in the Congressional Record on June 22, 2021.

Confirmations: Nides (Israel), Cohen (Canada), Carpenter (OSCE), Coleman (USAID)

 

U.S. Senate Confirms Two Ex-Senators and Two Widows of Senators to Ambassadorships. Yay!

 

On October 26, the institution that used to be called the “world’s greatest deliberative body” finally confirmed four ambassadorships despite Cancun Cruz’s blanket hold. The senators confirmed the former senator from Arizona for a post in Turkey, confirmed the former senator for New Mexico for a post in New Zealand and Samoa, and they confirmed the widows of two senators who used to represent Arizona and Massachusetts.
Oh, yes, the U.S. Senate also confirmed three Foreign Service lists two days after they confirmed their friends to these ambassadorships. By Thursday, somebody must have thought, hey, it might look bad that only Senate-connected nominees were confirmed on Tuesday.
Now, no one really think that, right?   Does it look bad? Wait! Did you think that?
Well, somebody did! So they rolled out what we’re calling their fruit basket strategery. Sure, they confirmed four political appointees but they also confirmed 283 regular Foreign Service folks who have been waiting from 2-3 months for their confirmation.
Apples and oranges in the fruit basket, see?
Do send your thanks to these jolly, old fellows in the Senate.
AMBASSADORSHIPS
2021-10-26 PN872 Jeffry Lane Flake, of Arizona, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Turkey.
2021-10-26 PN918 Tom Udall, of New Mexico, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to New Zealand, and to serve concurrently and without additional compensation as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Independent State of Samoa.
2021-10-26 PN1008 Cindy Hensley McCain, of Arizona, for the rank of Ambassador during her tenure of service as U.S. Representative to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture.
2021-10-26 PN1031 Victoria Reggie Kennedy, of Massachusetts, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Austria.
FOREIGN SERVICE LISTS
2021-10-28 PN904 Foreign Service | Nominations beginning Ninoshka Abreu Guerra, and ending Stefanie Nicole Yacubovich, which 224 nominations were received by the Senate and appeared in the Congressional Record on July 19, 2021.
2021-10-28 PN905 Foreign Service | Nominations beginning Rosemary Gallant, and ending Eric Wolff, which 17 nominations were received by the Senate and appeared in the Congressional Record on July 19, 2021.
2021-10-28 PN1015 Foreign Service | Nominations beginning Elizabeth R. Baiocchi, and ending William K. Makaneole, which 42 nominations were received by the Senate and appeared in the Congressional Record on August 9, 2021.

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No Govt Shutdown This Week, Congress Saving It For the Holidays