Confirmed on 12/24: State Dept/USAID Nominations

The following civilian Executive Nominations for the State Department and USAID were confirmed by the Senate yesterday, December 24, 2009. You will note that two nominees subjected to a lengthy Senate hold, Thomas Shannon (for Brazil) and Alan D. Solomont (for Spain) have now been confirmed. Dr. Rajiv Shah’s nomination to be USAID Administrator was also confirmed.

PN504 * BRAZILThomas Alfred Shannon, Jr., of Virginia, 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 Federative Republic of Brazil.

PN798 * EQUATORIAL GUINEAAlberto M. Fernandez, 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 Equatorial Guinea.

PN822 * MAURITIUS/REPUBLIC OF SEYCHELLESMary Jo Wills, 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 Mauritius, and to serve concurrently and without additional compensation as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Seychelles.

PN874 * SPAIN/ANDORRAAlan D. Solomont, of Massachusetts, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to Spain, and to serve concurrently and without additional compensation as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to Andorra.

PN934 * MOZAMBIQUELeslie V. Rowe, 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 Mozambique.

PN1004 * SERBIAMary Burce Warlick, 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 Serbia.

PN1052 * BULGARIAJames B. Warlick, Jr., 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 Bulgaria.

PN1065 * URUGUAYDavid Daniel Nelson, of Minnesota, 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 Oriental Republic of Uruguay.

PN1074 * HUNGARYEleni Tsakopoulos Kounalakis, of California, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Hungary.

PN1092 * COSTA RICAAnne Slaughter Andrew, of Indiana, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Costa Rica.

PN1158 * USAIDRajiv J. Shah, of Washington, to be Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development.

Confirmed: US Reps to 64th General Assembly of the UN

The following nominees were confirmed by the US Senate yesterday to be U.S. Representatives to the 64th General Assembly of the United Nations (UNGA):

PN1001 Bill Delahunt, of Massachusetts, to be a Representative of the United States of America to the Sixty-fourth Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations.

PN1002 Elaine Schuster, of Florida, to be a Representative of the United States of America to the Sixty-fourth Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations.

PN1003 Christopher H. Smith, of New Jersey, to be a Representative of the United States of America to the Sixty-fourth Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations.

PN1005 Wellington E. Webb, of Colorado, to be an Alternate Representative of the United States of America to the Sixty-fourth Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations.

PN1016 Laura Gore Ross, of New York, to be an Alternate Representative of the United States of America to the Sixty-fourth Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations.

CONFIRMATIONS -- (Senate - December 07, 2009)[Page: S12646] GPO's PDF

Confirmed: Polt, Stroum, Prahar, Huebner, Tefft

On November 20, 2009, the US Senate confirmed the following executive nominations for the State Department:

PN1025 * ESTONIAMichael C. Polt, of Tennessee, 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 Estonia.

PN956 * LUXEMBOUGCynthia Stroum, of Washington, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to Luxembourg.

PN1075 * MICRONESIAPeter Alan Prahar, 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 Federated States of Micronesia.

PN1064 * NEW ZEALANDDavid Huebner, of California, 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 Samoa.

PN1042 * UKRAINEJohn F. Tefft, 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 Ukraine.

EXECUTIVE SESSION -- (Senate - November 20, 2009)Confirmed en bloc

[Page: S11887] GPO's PDF

[Page: S11888] GPO's PDF

Confirmed: Fernandez, Barton, Kennard, Lomellin, King

On November 20, 2009, the US Senate confirmed the following executive nominations for the State Department:

PN872 * DEPARTMENT OF STATE (EEB)Jose W. Fernandez, of New York, to be an Assistant Secretary of State(Economic, Energy, and Business Affairs).

PN954 * DEPARTMENT OF STATE (ECOSOC)Frederick D. Barton, of Maine, to be Representative of the United States ofAmerica on the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations, with the rank of Ambassador.

PN1000 * DEPARTMENT OF STATE (UNGA)Frederick D. Barton, of Maine, 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 on the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.

PN873 * DEPARTMENT OF STATE (EU)William E. Kennard, of the District of Columbia, to be Representative of the United States of America to the European Union, with the rank and status of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary.

PN955 * DEPARTMENT OF STATE (OAS)Carmen Lomellin, of Virginia, to be Permanent Representative of the United States of America to the Organization of American States, with the rank of Ambassador.

PN1015 * DEPARTMENT OF STATE (G/SENK)Robert R. King, of Virginia, to be Special Envoy on North Korean Human Rights Issues, with the rank of Ambassador.

EXECUTIVE SESSION -- (Senate - November 20, 2009)Confirmed en bloc

[Page: S11887] GPO's PDF

[Page: S11888] GPO's PDF

Confirmed: Hudson, Yohannes and Arnavat

On November 20, 2009, the US Senate confirmed the following nominations for ERBD, MCC and IADB:

PN650 * EUROPEAN BANK FOR RECONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENTJames LaGarde Hudson, of the District of Columbia, to be United StatesDirector of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

PN975 * MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORPORATIONDaniel W. Yohannes, of Colorado, to be Chief Executive Officer,Millennium Challenge Corportation.

PN976 * INTER-AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT BANKGustavo Arnavat, of New York, to be United States Executive Director of theInter-American Development Bank for a term of three years.

EXECUTIVE SESSION -- (Senate - November 20, 2009)Confirmed en bloc

[Page: S11887] GPO's PDF

[Page: S11888] GPO's PDF

Confirmed: Jeffrey Bleich to Australia

Image by Bev (Sugarbloom Cupcakes) via Flickr

On November 5, the SFRC had a hearing on the nomination of Jeffrey Bleich to be US Ambassador to Australia. Yesterday, November 10, the Senate discharged the nomination: “The Senate Committee on Foreign Relations was discharged from further consideration of the following nomination by unanimous consent and the nomination was confirmed.”

PN933Jeffrey L. Bleichof California, to be Ambassador Extraordinary andPlenipotentiary of the United States of America to Australia.

CONFIRMATION -- (Senate - November 10, 2009)[Page: S11357] GPO's PDF

Confirmed: At Last - Arturo Valenzuela to WHA!

Image from OAS

Nominations of Shannon and Solomont still on hold

One of the two administration nominees for the Western Hemisphere has been confirmed. Arturo A. Valenzuela, President Obama’s nominee to be Assistant Secretary of State for the Western Hemisphere Affairs (WHA) bureau was confirmed by the Senate on November 5. He would succeed Thomas Shannon, whose nomination to be Ambassador to Brazil has also been on hold. Both nominations were reported out of the SFRC last July 28 but were subjected to a Senate hold over the administration’s policies on Honduras.

In its October 31 editorial WaPo calls the U.S. brokered deal A win in Honduras and also says: “[T]he leader of the U.S. delegation in Honduras this week, outgoing Assistant Secretary of State Thomas Shannon, is one of the State Department professionals abused by Mr. DeMint. Having recorded the Obama administration's biggest diplomatic success so far, Mr. Shannon ought to be allowed to take up his new post as ambassador to Brazil.”

Barely a week later, Reuters reports: “The collapse of an accord to end a four-month political crisis in Honduras leaves egg on the faces of U.S. and regional diplomats who had engineered the deal and puts the November 29 presidential election in jeopardy.”

How much longer the Honduras crisis is going to last, who knows? But it is doubtful that the recent news is going to help much in prying Shannon’s nomination from DeMint's hold. [This one via Senatus on 11/7 - it seems like Senator George LeMieux (R-FL) has also put a hold on Shannon's nomination over Cuba on migration and direct mail service. I don't know if DeMint has actually lifted his hold on this nomination, or if two senators now have a hold on Shannon's nomination -updated 11/9/09]

Still stuck in Senate holds and jams are the following:

Thomas Alfred Shannon, Jr., of Virginia, 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 Federative Republic of Brazil.

This nomination was reported out of the Committee on Foreign Relations on July 28, 2009; hold placed by Senator Jim DeMint, R-SC over Honduras.

Alan D. Solomont, of Massachusetts, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to Spain, and to serve concurrently and without additional compensation as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to Andorra. This nomination was reported out of the Committee on Foreign Relations on September 17, 2009; hold placed by Senator Chuck Grassley, R-IA over the firing of AmeriCorps inspector general Gerald Walpin.

CONFIRMATIONS -- (Senate - November 05, 2009) [Page: S11237] GPO's PDF

Confirmed: Ambassadors to Canada, Poland, Norway & State Bureaus

The following State Department nominees were confirmed by the Senate on September 22, 2009. Several of those waiting for their nominations to come to a Senate vote in August are still waiting. The list is here:

PN552 * CanadaDavid C. Jacobson, of Illinois, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to Canada.

PN794 * PolandLee Andrew Feinstein, of Virginia, to be Ambassador Extraordinary andPlenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Poland.

PN910 * NorwayBarry B. White, of Massachusetts, to be Ambassador Extraordinary andPlenipotentiary of the United States of America to Norway.

PN710 * STATE/DRLMichael H. Posner, of New York, to be Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor.

PN795 * STATE/EEBRobert D. Hormats, of New York, to be an Under Secretary of State (Economic, Energy, and Agricultural Affairs).

PN829 * STATE/Alternate Governor Various International BanksRobert D. Hormats, of New York, to be United States Alternate Governor of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development for a term of five years; United States Alternate Governor of the Inter-American Development Bank for a term of five years; United States Alternate Governor of the African Development Bank for a term of five years; United States Alternate Governor of the African Development Fund; United States Alternate Governor of the Asian Development Bank; and United States Alternate Governor of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

CONFIRMATIONS -- (Senate - September 22, 2009)[Page: S9691] GPO's PDF

Confirmed Nominations: August 7

Arturo Valenzuela (Photo from OAS)The following civilian Executive Nominations for the State Department were confirmed by the Senate on August 7, 2009. Nominations flagged with an asterisk were approved subject to the nominee's commitment to respond to requests to appear and testify before any duly constituted committee of the Senate.

It looks like two nominees could not beat the summer rush. You will note that Arturo A. Valenzuela, the nominee to be Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, and Thomas Alfred Shannon, Jr., the nominee to be US Ambassador to Brazil (who also preceded Mr. Valenzuela at WHA) are not on this list. I thought these two might get snared on either ethanol or Honduras.

During his confirmation hearing, Mr. Shannon was asked whether it was his view that both the United States and Brazil would benefit from the United States removing its tariff on imported ethanol. Mr. Shannon stated that it was his belief that such an action would indeed be “beneficial.” That did not make Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa happy at all. So he put a hold on Mr. Shannon’s nomination while he search for confirmation from the Administration on the US position on removal of tariff on imported ethanol. He got a quick response from USTR Ron Kirk and Secretary Clinton. In their letter, Kirk and Clinton wrote, “The Obama Administration is committed to developing our domestic biofuels industry in order to reduce U.S. dependence on oil imports and increase our use of renewable energy resources. There has been no change of policy with respect to the U.S. import surcharge of $0.54 per gallon on ethanol. The Administration has no plans to seek changes to the import surcharge.”

So Senator Grassley lifted his hold on Mr. Shannon, but it now looks like Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) has put a hold on these two nominees.

Senator DeMint placed a hold these two nominations briefly at the SFRC in July. Liz Harper reports that according to DeMint’s office the nominations would again be held over. Why? Apparently “to again express dissatisfaction with the administration’s handling of Honduras.” Oh, joy!

The Senate is now on summer break; it will resume business on Tuesday, September 8.

CONFIRMED NOMINATIONS

PN317 * STATE-NEAR EAST ASIA BUREAU (NEA)Jeffrey D. Feltman, of Ohio, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Minister-Counselor, to be an Assistant Secretary of State (Near Eastern Affairs).

PN485 * STATE- EEB BUREAUPhilip L. Verveer, of the District of Columbia, for the rank of Ambassador during his tenure of service as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Communications and Information Policy in the Bureau of Economic, Energy, and Business Affairs and U. S. Coordinator for International Communications and Information Policy.

PN553 * TO MEXICOCarlos Pascual, of the District of Columbia, to be Ambassador Extraordinary andPlenipotentiary of the United States of America to Mexico.

PN562 * STATE-DEMOCRACY AND GLOBAL AFFAIRSMaria Otero, of the District of Columbia, to be an Under Secretary of State (Democracy and Global Affairs).

PN580 * STATE-AFRICAN UNIONMichael Anthony Battle, Sr., of Georgia, to be Representative of the United States of America to the African Union, with the rank and status of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary.

PN582 * TO THE MARSHALL ISLANDSMartha Larzelere Campbell, of Michigan, 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 Marshall Islands.

PN641 * TO GEORGIAJohn R. Bass, of New York, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Counselor, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to Georgia.

PN642 * TO UNFAOErtharin Cousin, of Illinois, for the rank of Ambassador during her tenure of service as U. S. Representative to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture.

PN643 * TO CROATIAJames B. Foley, 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 Croatia.

PN644 * TO TAJIKISTANKenneth E. Gross, Jr., 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 Tajikistan.

PN646 * TO PAPUA NEW GUINEA, VANUATO, SOLOMON ISLANDSTeddy Bernard Taylor, 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 Papua New Guinea, and to serve concurrently and without additional compensation as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Solomon Islands and Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Vanuatu.

PN651 * TO JAPANJohn Victor Roos, of California, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to Japan.

PN672 * TO LATVIAJudith Gail Garber, 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 Latvia.

PN673 * TO STATE-OES BUREAUKerri-Ann Jones, of Maine, to be Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs.

PN675 * TO UNESCODavid Killion, of the District of Columbia, for the rank of Ambassador during his tenure of service as the United States Permanent Representative to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization.

PN676 * TO BENINJames Knight, of Alabama, 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 Benin.

PN677 * TO OECDKaren Kornbluh, of New York, to be Representative of the United States of America to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, with the rank of Ambassador.

PN678 * TO FINLANDBruce J. Oreck, of Colorado, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Finland.

PN695 * TO CHINAJon M. Huntsman, Jr., of Utah, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the People's Republic of China.

PN696 * TO MALTADouglas W. Kmiec, of California, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Malta.

PN698 * TO MONGOLIAJonathan S. Addleton, of Georgia, 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 Mongolia.

PN706 * TO SWEDENMatthew Winthrop Barzun, of Kentucky, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to Sweden.

PN707 * TO AUSTRIAWilliam Carlton Eacho, III, of Maryland, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Austria.

PN728 * TO GERMANYPhilip D. Murphy, of New Jersey, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Federal Republic of Germany.

PN740 * TO UNVIEGlyn T. Davies, of the District of Columbia, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Minister-Counselor, to be Representative of the United States of America to the Vienna Office of the United Nations, with the rank of Ambassador.

PN741 * TO IAEAGlyn T. Davies, of the District of Columbia, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Minister-Counselor, to be Representative of the United States of America to the International Atomic Energy Agency, with the rank of Ambassador.

PN761 * TO PEACE CORPSAaron S. Williams, of Virginia, to be Director of the Peace Corps.

CONFIRMATIONS -- (Senate - August 07, 2009)[Page: S9096] GPO's PDF[Page: S9097] GPO's PDF

Confirmed: These 12 Ambassadors Are Going to Posts

US Ambassador Flag: Image via Wikipedia

On August 4^th, the Senate confirmed the following Executive Nominations for ambassadors to various countries in Africa, South Central Asia, the Middle East and North Africa and Europe. The link to the Congressional Record will be added once it is posted online.

Career Appointees:

Patricia Butenis, Ambassador to Sri Lanka Charles Ray, Ambassador to Zimbabwe Gayleatha Brown, Ambassador to Burkina Faso Pamela Slutz, Ambassador to Burundi Patricia Moller, Ambassador to Guinea Jerry Lanier, Ambassador to Uganda

Non-Career Appointees:

Alfonso Lenhardt, Ambassador to Tanzania Samuel Kaplan, Ambassador to Morocco James Smith, Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Miguel Diaz, Ambassador to the Holy See Fay Hartog-Levin, Ambassador to the Netherlands Stephen Rapp, Ambassador at Large for War Crimes

CONFIRMATIONS -- (Senate - August 04, 2009)[Page: S8783] GPO's PDF

Confirmed: Marshall, Powell, Gips, Irving

The following nominees for US Ambassadors were confirmed by the US Senate on July 31^st:

Capricia Penavic Marshall, of the District of Columbia, to be Chief of Protocol, and to have the rank of Ambassador during her tenure of service.

Nancy J. Powell, of Iowa, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Career Minister, to be Director General of the Foreign Service.

Donald Henry Gips, of Colorado, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of South Africa.

Earl Michael Irving, of California, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Counselor, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of theUnited States of America to the Kingdom of Swaziland.

CONFIRMATIONS -- (Senate - July 31, 2009)[Page: S8637] GPO's PDF

Confirmed: Ambassadors to Europe and the Western Hemisphere

The Senate unanimously confirmed these nominees to serve as U.S. Ambassador to the following countries in Europe and the Western Hemisphere:

282, Ann Derse - Ambassador to Lithuania284, Kennth Merten - Ambassador to Haiti285, Donald Beyer - Ambassador to Switzerland - Liechetenstein286, John Nay - Ambassador to Suriname287, Vinai Thummalapally - Ambassador to Belize288, Nicole Avant - Ambassador to the Bahamas289, Howard Gutman - Ambassador to Belgium290, Vilma Martinez - Ambassador to Argentina291, David Thorne - Ambassador the Italian Republic

It looks like eight nominees did not make it out of the Senate for one reason or another this round: Capricia Penavic Marshall, Philip L. Verveer, Nancy J. Powell, Maria Otero, Carlos Pascual, Arturo Valenzuela, Thomas Shannon and Jeffrey D. Feltman. I will post the congressional record for those confirmed as soon as it becomes available.

Confirmed: Dell, Rivkin, Susman, Fulton, Roemer, Gray, Schmierer, Gitenstein

The following nominations for ambassadorial posts were confirmed by the Senate on 
July 10. Nominations flagged with an asterisk were approved subject to the nominee's
commitment to respond to requests to appear and testify before any duly constituted 
committee of the Senate.

PN502 * DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Christopher William Dell, 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 Republic of Kosovo.

PN503 * DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Charles H. Rivkin, of California, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and
Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to France, and to serve
concurrently and without additional compensation as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to Monaco.

PN523 *       DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Louis B. Susman, of Illinois, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
of the United States of America to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Northern Ireland.

PN524 *       DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Laurie Susan Fulton, of Virginia, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and
Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to Denmark.

PN576 *       DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Timothy J. Roemer, of Indiana, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
of the United States of America to India.

PN584 *       DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Gordon Gray, 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 Tunisia.

PN588 *       DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Richard J. Schmierer, 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 Sultanate of Oman.

PN637 *       DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Mark Henry Gitenstein, of the District of Columbia, to be Ambassador Extraordinary
and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to Romania.

CONFIRMATIONS -- (Senate - July 10, 2009)
Congressional Record [Page: S7375]  GPO's PDF

Confirmed: Koh, Campbell, Tauscher, Rooney

The following civilian Executive Nominations for the Department of State were confirmed by the Senate on June 25:

PN225 * Harold Hongju Koh, of Connecticut,
to be Legal Adviser

PN373 * Kurt M. Campbell, of the District of Columbia,
to be an Assistant Secretary of State (East Asian and Pacific Affairs).

PN403 * Ellen O. Tauscher, of California,
to be Under Secretary of State for Arms Controland International Security.

PN587 Daniel M. Rooney, of Pennsylvania,
to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States
of America to Ireland.

CONFIRMATIONS
-- (Senate - June 25, 2009)
[Page: S7114] GPO's PDF

DISCHARGED NOMINATIONS (Rooney)
-- (Senate - June 25, 2009)
[Page: S7114] GPO's PDF

Confirmed: Jenkins, Goosby, Schwartz, and Shapiro

On June 19, the Senate confirmed the following civilian Executive Nominations for the State Department:

Bonnie D. Jenkins, of New York, for the rank of Ambassador during her tenure of service as Coordinator for Threat Reduction Programs.

Eric P. Goosby, of California, to be Ambassador at Large and Coordinator of United States Government Activities to Combat HIV/AIDS Globally.

Eric P. Schwartz, of New York, to be an Assistant Secretary of State (Population, Refugees, and Migration).

Andrew J. Shapiro, of New York, to be an Assistant Secretary of State (Political-Military Affairs).

Congressional Record for these nominees will not be published until Monday, June 22. I’ll try and add them here if I can.

Congressional Record - Senate Confirmation
[Page: S6858] GPO's PDF

Confirmed: Susan Flood Burk, Special Rep of the Prez

On its first day back in session, the Senate confirmed by unanimous consent Executive Calendar #139, Susan Flood Burk, a Career Member of the Senior Executive Service to be Special Representative of the President, with the rank of Ambassador.


Congressional Record
CONFIRMATION -- (Senate - June 01, 2009)
[Page: S5910] GPO's PDF

Confirmed: McHale, Crowley, Benjamin & Blake

The Senate confirmed yesterday the nominations of the following senior officials for the State Department (5/21):

Judith A. McHale, of Maryland
to be Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy.

Philip J. Crowley, of Virginia
to be an Assistant Secretary of State (Public Affairs).

Daniel Benjamin, of the District of Columbia
to be Coordinator for Counterterrorism, with the rank and status of Ambassador at Large.

Robert Orris Blake, Jr., of Maryland
Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service Class of Minister-Counselor to be Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs

This currently leaves us with three nominees stuck in the Senate waiting for a full vote: Susan Flood Burk, Harold Hongju Koh, and Ambassador Jeffrey Feltman.

Congressional Record will be posted as soon as it goes online.

Update @3:37 pm:

Congressional Record
CONFIRMATIONS -- (Senate - May 21, 2009)
[Page: S5888] GPO's PDF

Confirmed: EUR’s Philip Gordon

The hold did not stick very long. On May 14^th the Senate finally confirmed by unanimous consent, Philip H. Gordon to be an Assistant Secretary of State for the EUR bureau.

Congressional Record
[Page: S5541] GPO's PDF

No word yet on when the nominations of Susan Flood Burk (to be Special Representative of the President, with the rank of Ambassador) and Harold Hongju Koh, (to be Legal Adviser of the Department of State) would come to a vote. Both nominations have been favorably reported by SFRC on May 13 without printed report.

Related Post:
Philip Gordon: Snared in Senate Hold and More

Ambassador Eikenberry Arrives in Kabul

Photo from US Embassy Kabul on Facebook

Ambassador Eikenberry arrived in Afghanistan yesterday, May 11, 2009, at 10:45, accompanied by his spouse, Ching Eikenberry, who will also be working at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul. “It’s wonderful to be back in Afghanistan among my many friends. This will be my third assignment to Afghanistan, and I look forward to working in close partnership with the Government and people of Afghanistan to carry out our combined work.”

The Ambassador's nomination was announced by President Obama on March 11. The SFRC conducted a hearing on his nomination on March 26 (see testimony and video of hearing here). On April 2, the full Senate confirmed him as the new ambassador to Afghanistan.

Confirmed: Ivo Daalder, Johnnie Carson and Luis de Baca

That was quick! On May 5^th, the SFRC endorsed these nominees and yesterday, the full Senate confirmed the following State Department nominations:

Ivo H. Daalder, of Virginia, 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.

Also see:
Officially In: General Eikenberry to Kabul and Other Nominees
SFRC Hearings: Nominations of Burk, Daalder
WH announcement here, Brookings bio here)

Johnnie Carson, of Illinois, to be an Assistant Secretary of State (African
Affairs).

Also see:
Officially In: Johnnie Carson to the AF Bureau,
SFRC Hearings: Nominations of Carson, de Baca

Luis C. de Baca, of Virginia, to be Director of the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking, with rank of Ambassador at Large.

Also see:
More State Department Nominations
SFRC Hearings: Nominations of Carson, de Baca

Congressional Record

CONFIRMATIONS -- (Senate - May 06, 2009)
[Page: S5248] GPO's PDF