Posted: 1:21 am ET
Follow @Diplopundit
Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan officiates the swearing-in ceremony for Ambassador-designate to the Kingdom of Bahrain Justin Hicks Siberell at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C. on November 3, 2017. [State Department Photo/ Public Domain]
#
Posted: 12:12 am ET
[twitter-follow screen_name=’Diplopundit’]
On September 26, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee cleared the following nominations:
Jon M. Huntsman, Jr., of Utah, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Russian Federation (Sep 26, 2017 Reported by Mr. Corker, Committee on Foreign Relations, without printed report).
Justin Hicks Siberell, 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 Kingdom of Bahrain.
A. Wess Mitchell, of Virginia, to be an Assistant Secretary of State (European and Eurasian Affairs), vice Victoria Nuland.
The SFRC also cleared the nomination of J. Steven Dowd, of Florida, to be the United States Director of the African Development Bank for a term of five years, vice Walter Crawford Jones, who resigned.
#
Posted: 4:25 am ET
[twitter-follow screen_name=’Diplopundit’]
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is holding confirmation hearings for four State Department nominees today. The first panel has a one sole nominee, Eric M. Euland to be the Under Secretary of State for Management (see Trump to Nominate Top GOP Budget Aide Eric Ueland to be Under Secretary for Management #StateDept). The second panel includes two nominees for ambassador, both career diplomats: John R. Bass for Afghanistan, and Justin Siberell for Bahrain, and J. Steven Dowd, the nominee for The African Development Bank.
Date: Tuesday, September 12, 2017
Time: 09:30 AM
Location: SD-419
Presiding: Senator Corker
The prepared statements and a live video of the hearings will be posted here when available.
Panel One
Mr. Eric M. Ueland
Of Oregon, To Be An Under Secretary Of State (Management)
Panel Two
The Honorable John R. Bass
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 Islamic Republic Of Afghanistan
Posted: 2:41 am ET
[twitter-follow screen_name=’Diplopundit’]
Mr. Sales publicly available bio (PDF) says that he is an Associate Professor of Law (May 2014-present) at Syracuse University College of Law in New York. Prior to that, he was Assistant Professor of Law (January 2008-May 2014) at the George Mason University School of Law in Arlington, Virginia.
He previously worked at DHS’s Office of Policy as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy Development (July 2006-December 2007) and at DOJ’s Office of Legal Policy. His bio says that he “Managed Justice Department “war room” during confirmation of Chief Justice John Roberts.” It also says he received Attorney General’s Award for Exceptional Service (Justice Department’s highest honor) in 2002, for his role in drafting the USA PATRIOT Act and in 2003, received the Attorney General’s Distinguished Service Award for his role in judicial confirmation process. He served as a law clerk for David B. Sentelle at the U.S. District Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia from July 2000-July 2001.
If confirmed, Mr. Sales would succeed career diplomat Tina S. Kaidanow who was appointed to CT from 2014-2016 (see Bureau of Counterterrorism’s Tina Kaidanow Moves to Pol-Mil Affairs, Justin Siberell Now Acting Coordinator). Mr. Siberell, a career FSO was nominated to be Coordinator for Counterterrorism to head the Bureau of Counterterrorism and Countering Violent Extremism (CT/CVE) in September 2016. The nomination was not acted by the Senate and was returned to President Obama in January 2017 (see @StateDept Nominations Forgotten By the Senate Time Lords of the 114th Congress).
Below is a quick description of this position:
On Aug 1, 1976, the Department of State elevated the position of Special Assistant to the Secretary of State and Coordinator of the Office for Combating Terrorism to that of Director of the Office for Combating Terrorism, with rank equivalent to an Assistant Secretary of State. All Directors have been designated by the Secretary of State, not commissioned. The Department had established the earlier position in October 1972 to head an interagency working-level committee charged with addressing the problem of international terrorism.
The State Department website notes that in 1994, Congress officially mandated the Bureau of Counterterrorism in Public Law 103-236 [H.R. 2333]. In 1998, Congress further defined the role of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism in Public Law 105-277 [H.R. 4328]:
“There is within the office of the Secretary of State a Coordinator for Counterterrorism…who shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate…. The principal duty of the coordinator shall be the overall supervision (including policy oversight of resources) of international counterterrorism activities. The Coordinator shall be the principal adviser to the Secretary of State on international counterterrorism matters. The coordinator shall be the principal counterterrorism official within the senior management of the Department of State and shall report directly to the Secretary of State. The Coordinator shall have the rank and status of Ambassador at Large.”
#
You must be logged in to post a comment.