The U.S. Senate has confirmed former NFL star Herschel Walker because the ambassador to the Bahamas, filling a place that has been vacant for practically 15 years.
Walker was amongst greater than 100 nominations confirmed in a single vote by the GOP-controlled Senate on Oct. 7, Reuters stories. The affirmation follows current rule modifications by Republican lawmakers geared toward rushing up the approval of President Donald Trump’s nominees.
Regardless of the Bahamas’ shut ties with the U.S., the nation has lacked an envoy since 2011. In response to the State Division’s Workplace of the Historian, it was certainly one of simply 5 nations, together with Bolivia and Cuba, with no U.S. ambassador for over a decade.
A sequence of chargés have headed the U.S. Embassy within the Bahamas d’affaires up till Walker’s affirmation. The final U.S. ambassador to the Bahamas was Nicole Avant, appointed by former President Barack Obama, who served till 2011. In 2014, Obama nominated Cassandra Butts, his former deputy White Home counsel, for the position, however the Senate by no means acted on the nomination. He re-nominated her the next 12 months, however she died whereas her nomination was pending.
Wendall Jones, the Bahamian ambassador to the U.S., stated Walker “will probably be warmly welcomed by Bahamians who’re extensively identified for his or her hospitality.” He added that Walker can be “well-positioned to help our authorities in speaking on many problems with mutual concern.”
Walker performed 12 seasons within the NFL with the Dallas Cowboys, Minnesota Vikings, Philadelphia Eagles, and New York Giants. He gained the Heisman Trophy whereas starring at on the College of Georgia.
A dedicated Republican and shut ally of Donald Trump, Walker ran unsuccessfully for a U.S. Senate seat in Georgia in 2022, shedding to Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock in a runoff. His marketing campaign was clouded by controversy, together with stories that Walker, who ran on an anti-abortion platform, had paid for an abortion in 2009. Walker acknowledged giving a $700 examine to an ex-partner however denied understanding it was for an abortion. Trump defended him through the scandal, and Walker later returned the help within the lead-up to the 2024 presidential election.
In December 2024, Trump nominated Walker for the ambassadorship submit, praising him as “an Ambassador to our Nation’s youth, our women and men within the Navy, and athletes at residence and overseas.”
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