Biden nominates current Ambassador to Lebanon Shea for UN Ambassador Deputy

US President Joe Biden announced Tuesday his intent to nominate multiple individuals to serve as key leaders in his administration; among the nominees is the current US ambassador to Lebanon, Dorothy Shea. 

Biden nominated Shea to serve as Deputy Representative of the US to the United Nations, with the rank and status of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary.

Shea would also serve as Deputy Representative of the US in the UN Security Council and the representative to the sessions of the UN General Assembly.

Among other nominees in Tuesday’s batch is the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs at the Department of State, Yael Lempert. Biden has nominated Lempert to serve as the US ambassador to Jordan.

The White House added that it would begin renominating candidates not confirmed in the last Congress. 

“Today’s transmission to the Senate will include nominees to serve as agency heads, as US Ambassadors, in key national security positions, and on bipartisan boards and commissions. The White House will continue transmitting renominations to the Senate in the coming weeks and hopes the Senate will take action expeditiously,” the White House added.

The timing of the new nominations and renominations coincided with the overtake of the 118th Congress on Tuesday, with Republicans taking control of the House and Democrats widening their majority in the Senate. The widened Democratic majority in the Senate is supposed to make the paths of diplomatic nominations easier as the US Senate must confirm each individual.