Why it Matters
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee will decide whether to advance 17 nominees, including ambassadors to Indonesia, Colombia and Serbia, a new Arctic ambassador-at-large, the head of the U.S. Agency for Global Media and a U.S. executive director of the International Monetary Fund, toward confirmation by the full Senate. The panel will take up the slate, which includes Justin Bytheway as ambassador to the Kingdom of Tonga, on Nov. 18.
The hearing is titled "Business Meeting to Consider the Nominations of Justin Bytheway, of Utah, to Be Ambassador to the Kingdom of Tonga" and 16 other nominations. Sen. Jim Risch (R-ID) is the committee's chair, and Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) is its ranking member.
Broader Context
The White House's Aug. 7 announcement lists Bytheway among nominations sent to the Senate. The committee held a nominations hearing on Sept. 30 covering many of the same nominees, according to the committee hearing record, and listed a separate nominations hearing on Nov. 10.
Subcommittee leaders sit on the slate's regional posts. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) chairs the Africa and Global Health Policy Subcommittee, and the slate includes ambassadors to Chad, Madagascar, Mauritania and Rwanda. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) is ranking member of the Western Hemisphere subcommittee, and the slate includes ambassadors to El Salvador, Colombia and Trinidad and Tobago.
The Arctic post is a new position. The record lists Julia Nesheiwat for this role, Sarah B. Rogers for the Agency for Global Media and Rebekah Jurata for the International Monetary Fund seat.
The Bottom Line
Each nominee the committee reports out becomes eligible for consideration by the full Senate. A nominee the committee does not report stays in committee, so the Nov. 18 business meeting sets which of the 17 names, from the Arctic post to the International Monetary Fund seat, can reach the Senate floor next.
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