President Biden Is Finally Getting His Ambassadors Confirmed

 

     After a blockade of President Biden's ambassador appointees by Senator Ted Cruz, the Senate confirmed dozens of nominees Saturday night when Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer reached a deal. A total of 120 ambassador positions exist for foreign nations, international organizations, and at-large global issues. Confirming these men and women is critical for America's foreign policy, and last night saw a major victory in the continued fight to recover from the statutory neglect the State Department saw during the Trump era and the foreign policy fallouts that became of it. 

     Unlike President Trump, President Biden is focusing on appointing career diplomats over political donors and personal friends. Trump only appointed 56 percent career embassy officials; Biden is aiming to appoint at least 70 percent, which is the norm for presidents past. Keep track of the nominees and their confirmation status below:

The Americas:

1. Ambassador to Argentina: Marc Stanley (Confirmed)
2. Ambassador to the Bahamas: vacant
3. Ambassador to Belize: Michelle Kwan (Awaiting vote)
4. Ambassador to Canada: David L. Cohen (Confirmed)
5. Ambassador to Chile: Bernadette Meehan (Awaiting vote)
6. Ambassador to Costa Rica: Cynthia Telles (Confirmed)
7. Ambassador to the Dominican Republic: Calvin Smyre (Confirmed)
8. Ambassador to El Salvador: vacant
9. Ambassador to Honduras: Laura Farnsworth Dogu (Awaiting vote)
10. Ambassador to Jamaica: N. Nick Perry (Awaiting vote)
11. Ambassador to Mexico: Ken Salazar (Confirmed)
12. Ambassador to Panama: Mari Aponte (Awaiting vote)
13. Ambassador to Paraguay: Marc Ostfield (Confirmed)
14. Ambassador to Trinidad and Tobago: vacant
15. Ambassador to Uruguay: vacant

Africa:

1. Ambassador to Algeria: Elizabeth Moore Aubin (Confirmed)
2. Ambassador to Angola and São Tomé y Príncipe: Tulinabo S. Mushingi (Confirmed)
3. Ambassador to Benin: Brian W. Shukan (Confirmed)
4. Ambassador to Botswana: Howard Van Vranken (Awaiting vote)
5. Ambassador to Cameroon: Christopher J. Lamora (Confirmed)
6. Ambassador to the Central African Republic: Patricia Mahoney (Confirmed)
7. Ambassador to Chad: vacant
8. Ambassador to the Republic of the Congo: Eugene Young (Confirmed)
9. Ambassador to Equatorial Guinea: David R. Gilmour (Confirmed)
10. Ambassador to The Gambia: Sharon L. Cromer (Confirmed)
11. Ambassador to Ghana: Virginia E. Palmer (Awaiting vote)
12. Ambassador to Guinea: Troy D. Fitrell (Confirmed)
13. Ambassador to Kenya: Meg Whitman (Awaiting vote)
14. Ambassador to Lesotho: Maria Brewer (Confirmed)
15. Ambassador to Madagascar and Comoros: Claire A. Pierangelo (Awaiting vote)
16. Ambassador to Malawi: David Young (Awaiting vote)
17. Ambassador to Mauritius: vacant
18. Ambassador to Morocco: vacant
19. Ambassador to Mozambique: Peter H. Vrooman (Confirmed)
20. Ambassador to Senegal and Guinea-Bissau: Michael A. Raynor (Confirmed)
21. Ambassador to Seychelles: vacant
22. Ambassador to Somalia: Larry André, Jr. (Confirmed)
23. Ambassador to South Africa: Reuben Brigety (Awaiting vote)
24. Ambassador to Tanzania: Michael Battle (Awaiting vote)
25. Ambassador to Togo: Elizabeth Fitzsimmons (Confirmed)
26. Ambassador to Zambia: vacant

Asia:

1. Ambassador to Afghanistan: vacant
2. Ambassador to Bangladesh: Peter D. Haas (Confirmed)
3. Ambassador to Brunei Darussalam: Caryn McClelland (Confirmed)
4. Ambassador to China: R. Nicholas Burns (Confirmed)
5. Ambassador to India: Eric Garcetti (Awaiting vote)
6. Ambassador to Japan: Rahm Emanuel (Confirmed)
7. Ambassador to Pakistan: Donald Blome (Awaiting vote)
8. Ambassador to the Philippines: vacant
9. Ambassador to Singapore: Jonathan E. Kaplan (Confirmed)
10. Ambassador to South Korea: vacant
11. Ambassador to Sri Lanka and the Maldives: Julie J. Chung (Confirmed)
12. Ambassador to Thailand: vacant
13. Ambassador to Vietnam: Mark Knapper (Confirmed)

Europe: 

1. Ambassador to Austria: Victoria Reggie Kennedy (Confirmed)
2. Ambassador to Belgium: Michael M. Adler (Confirmed)
3. Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina: Michael J. Murphy (Confirmed)
4. Ambassador to Croatia: vacant
5. Ambassador to the Czech Republic: vacant
6. Ambassador to Denmark: vacant
7. Ambassador to Estonia: vacant
8. Ambassador to Finland: Doug Hickey (Awaiting vote)
9. Ambassador to France and Monaco: Denise Bauer (Confirmed)
10. Ambassador to Germany: Amy Gutmann (Awaiting vote)
11. Ambassador to Greece: George J. Tsunis (Awaiting vote)
12. Ambassador to the Holy See: Joe Donnelly (Awaiting vote)
13. Ambassador to Hungary: vacant
14. Ambassador to Iceland: vacant
15. Ambassador to Ireland: Claire D. Cronin (Confirmed)
16. Ambassador to Italy and San Marino: vacant
17.  Ambassador to Kosovo: Jeff Hovenier (Confirmed)
18. Ambassador to Luxembourg: Tom Barrett (Confirmed)
19. Ambassador to Malta: Constance Milstein (Awaiting vote)
20. Ambassador to Moldova: Kent Logsdon (Confirmed)
21. Ambassador to the Netherlands: vacant
22. Ambassador to Norway: Marc Nathanson (Awaiting vote)
23. Ambassador to Poland: Marc Brzezinski (Confirmed)
24. Ambassador to Portugal: Randi Levine (Awaiting vote)
25. Ambassador to Serbia: Christopher R. Hill (Awaiting vote)
26. Ambassador to Slovenia: Jamie Harpootlian (Confirmed)
27. Ambassador to Spain and Andorra: Julissa Reynoso Pantaleón (Confirmed)
28. Ambassador to Sweden: Erik Ramanathan (Confirmed)
29. Ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein: Scott Miller (Confirmed)
30. Ambassador to the United Kingdom: Jane D. Hartley (Awaiting vote)

Middle East:

1. Ambassador to Bahrain: Steve C. Bondy (Confirmed)
2. Ambassador to Iraq: Alina Romanowski (Awaiting vote)
3. Ambassador to Israel: Thomas R. Nides (Confirmed)
4. Ambassador to Qatar: vacant
5. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia: vacant
6. Ambassador to Turkey: Jeff Flake (Confirmed)
7. Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates: vacant
8. Ambassador to Yemen: Steve Fagin (Awaiting vote)

Oceania:

1. Ambassador to Australia: Caroline Kennedy (Awaiting vote)
2. Ambassador to Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Tonga, and Tuvalu: vacant
3. Ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa: Tom Udall (Confirmed)

Internation Organizations:

1. Ambassador to the United Nations: Linda Thomas-Greenfield (Confirmed)
2. Deputy to the Ambassador to the United Nations: Jeffrey Prescott (Confirmed)
3. Ambassador to the Conference on Disarmament: Bruce Turner (Awaiting vote)
4. Ambassador to the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations: Lisa Carty (Awaiting vote)
5. Ambassador to the United Nations for Management and Reform: Chris Lu (Confirmed)
6. Ambassador to the United Nations and Other International Organizations in Geneva: Bathsheba Nell Crocker (Confirmed)
7. Ambassador to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture: Cindy McCain (Confirmed)
8. Permanent Representative to NATO: Julianne Smith (Confirmed)
9. Ambassador to the Organization of American States: Francisco O. Mora (Awaiting vote)
10. Representative to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe: Michael R. Carpenter (Confirmed)
11. Ambassador to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development: Jack Markell (Confirmed)
12. U.S. Representative to the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization: Sully Sullenberger (Confirmed)
13. Ambassador to the United Nations International Organizations in Vienna: Laura Holgate (Awaiting vote)
14. Ambassador to the European Union: Mark Gitenstein (Confirmed)
15. Ambassador to the United Nations Human Rights Council: Michèle Taylor (Awaiting vote)

Ambassadors At-Large:

1. Ambassador-at-Large for Counterterrorism: Elizabeth H. Richard (Awaiting vote)
2. Ambassador-at-Large for Global Criminal Justice: Beth Van Schaak (Awaiting vote)
3. Ambassador-at-Large for Global Health Diplomacy and Global AIDS Coordinator: John Nkengasong (Awaiting vote)'
4. Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues: Geeta Rao Gupta (Awaiting vote)
5. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom: Rashad Hussain (Confirmed)
6. Ambassador-at-Large to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons: vacant
7. Special Representative of the President for Nuclear Nonproliferation: Adam Scheinman (Confirmed)