Confirmation Good News and Bad News and a Merry Christmas to you, too!

Confirmations: Nides, Brownfield, UNGA nominees, USAID, MCC and OPIC nominees

• Also confirmed three FSOs nominated to the rare rank of career ambassador

• Not confirmed - nominees to Syria, Turkey, the Czech Republic, Azerbaijan, El Salvador and Venezuela

The following civilian Executive Nominations were confirmed by the Senate during the current congress on December 22, 2010.

PN2260 *      DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Thomas R. Nides, of the District of Columbia, to be Deputy Secretary of State for
Management and Resources.

PN2210 *      DEPARTMENT OF STATE
William R. Brownfield, of Texas, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service,
Class of Career Minister, to be an Assistant Secretary of State (International
Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs).

PN2354 *      FOREIGN SERVICE
Nominations beginning James Franklin Jeffrey, and ending Earl A. Wayne, which 3 nominations were received by the Senate and appeared in the Congressional Record on November 18, 2010.  (Note: This is the nomination for the rank of career ambassador for three nominees, the third name is Nancy Powell, the current Directory General and top HR person for the State Department)


STATE/UNGA

PN2133 *      DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Carol Fulp, of Massachusetts, to be a Representative of the United States of
America to the Sixty-fifth Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations.

PN2134 *      DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Jeanne Shaheen, of New Hampshire, to be a Representative of the United States of
America to the Sixty-fifth Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations.

PN2135 *      DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Roger F. Wicker, of Mississippi, to be a Representative of the United States of
America to the Sixty-fifth Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations.

PN2136 *      DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Gregory J. Nickels, of Washington, to be an Alternate Representative of the United
States of America to the Sixty-fifth Session of the General Assembly of the United
Nations.

USAID

PN2248 *      UNITED STATES AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Paige Eve Alexander, of Georgia, to be an Assistant Administrator of the United
States Agency for International Development.

MCC

PN2259 *      MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORPORATION
Mark Green, of Wisconsin, to be a Member of the Board of Directors of the
Millennium Challenge Corporation for a term of three years.

PN2261 *      MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORPORATION
Alan J. Patricof, of New York, to be a Member of the Board of Directors of the
Millennium Challenge Corporation for a term of two years.

OPIC

PN2092 *      OVERSEAS PRIVATE INVESTMENT CORPORATION
Kevin Glenn Nealer, of Maryland, to be a Member of the Board of Directors of the
Overseas Private Investment Corporation for a term expiring December 17, 2011.


The following nominations failed:

Congress went home for the holidays yesterday and the Senate clerk issued the final executive calendar of the year with the following note:

The treaties remaining on the Executive Calendar are, under the rules of the Senate, automatically rereferred to the Committee on Foreign Relations at the sine die adjournment of the Senate, and remain pending in committee for action in subsequent Congresses. All nominations remaining on the Executive Calendar, under the rules of the Senate, failed of confirmation at the time of sine die adjournment of the Senate and are returned to the President (together with other nominations received by the Senate and not acted upon by the committees to which they had been referred), and must be resubmitted in the next Congress to be further considered.

That includes the following ambassadorial nominees to six countries. Not that this is totally unexpected given the packed schedule in the lame duck session and the political wranglings surrounding these nominations.

We'll be in the lookout if these names will be resubmitted to the 112th Congress in January,and if the WH will provide stronger push next year.  For now US Missions in Syria, Turkey, the Czech Republic and Azerbaijan will have to make do without the president's top representative. The chief of mission in San Salvador must also be renominated.  And Venezuela? Well, of course, Caracas will read this as the US caving in to its demand not to send Mr. Palmer there.

* 812 1455 Robert Stephen Ford, 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 Syrian Arab Republic. Apr 13, 2010 Reported by Mr. Kerry, Committee on Foreign Relations,  without printed report.

* 831 1260 Mari Carmen Aponte, of the District of Columbia, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of El Salvador. Apr 28, 2010 Reported by Mr. Kerry, Committee on Foreign Relations, without printed report. (NOTE: Ambassador Aponte is currently chief of mission in San Salvador on a recess appointment)

* 1051 1949 Francis Joseph Ricciardone, Jr., of Massachusetts, 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 Republic of Turkey. Aug 03, 2010 Reported by Mr. Kerry, Committee on Foreign
Relations, without printed report.

* 1114 1901 Norman L. Eisen, of the District of Columbia, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Czech Republic. Sep 21, 2010 Reported by Mr.Kerry, Committee on Foreign Relations, without printed report.

* 1117 1825 Matthew J. Bryza, of Illinois, 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 Azerbaijan. Sep 21, 2010 Reported by Mr. Kerry, Committee on Foreign Relations, without printed report.

* 1217 1904 Larry Leon Palmer, of Georgia, 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 Bolivarian  Republic of Venezuela. Dec 14, 2010 Reported by Mr. Kerry, Committee on Foreign Relations, without printed report. (NOTE: Venezuela has withdrawn its agreement to this nomination this past week. Now that the nomination is dead in the Senate, the WH will have to pick a new nominee.  This is one instance where there won't be a renomination, unfortunately.  We suspect that Mr. Palmer will be nominated to a different post eventually. Stay tuned!) We'll take a blog break now ....


Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Eid Mubarak, Happy Kwanzaa, and a Joyous and Peaceful New Year to you and your loved ones!