Why it Matters

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a hearing Sept. 30 titled "Hearings to Examine Certain Pending Nominations," with five nominees listed as affiliated with the Department of State, including William Flens for ambassador to Chad and Jessica Long for ambassador to Mauritania.

The Big Picture

A Legis1 report from Sept. 24 cited diplomatic staffing shortages as context for the hearing, describing the committee as accelerating pending nominations. Both Chair Sen. Jim Risch (R-ID) and Ranking Member Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) framed the posts as fronts in competition with China, and with Russia in Bulgaria and the Sahel, though they diverged on how the U.S. should respond. Shaheen cited a Democratic committee report from the prior year finding that when the U.S. retreats, China fills the vacuum, and said China "is already doing that."

What They're Saying

Shaheeen asked nominees in her opening remarks how they would address spillover instability from Sudan into Chad.

William Flens of the Department of State, responding to a question from the Ranking Member, said he would work in close coordination with the Sudan team at the State Department to determine how to message U.S. concerns, adding, "I won't be acting independently without that consultation of uh the team back here in Washington." Shaheen said, "We know that the UAE is one of those outside actors that's resupplying the RSF," while adding that others are resupplying the Sudanese forces as well.

Responding to a question from Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Marc Dillard said Madagascar's rescission of overflight clearance for Taiwan's president had "limited impact" on the flight but was indicative of intimidation tactics Beijing has used in the region, and a follow-up remark in the transcript called that characterization "kind of true-ish" while saying the issue was "less about the impact" and more about violating international regimes.

Justin Bytheway, nominee to be the first resident U.S. ambassador to Tonga, said in his opening statement, "Whoever builds Tonga's cables and power grids shapes its future alignment for a generation, and I don't intend to cede that ground."

Political Stakes

Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) introduced Bulgaria nominee Douglas Holder as a personal friend of 16 years and urged colleagues to confirm him "without delay," framing the nomination in explicitly "America first" terms. Bytheway and Flens are described as career members of the Foreign Service, while Holder is described as a Florida-based government-affairs adviser, according to State Department biographies.

Responding to a question from the ranking member, nominee Jessica Long said Mauritania has established a special tribunal to investigate and prosecute trafficking cases, including hereditary slavery, and that "neither the United States government nor the Mauritanian government want to see Mauritania end up on tier two watch list or tier three in the trafficking persons report."

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