Thursday's Senate Vote Confirmed the New US Ambassador To Freetown And Others.

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Renewal News Network Roving Report | 29/07/2023

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Bryan David Hunt, whom President Joe Biden had nominated in March 2023 to serve as the United States Ambassador to Sierra Leone, was granted approval by the Senate of the United States on July 27, 2023. Also approved were ambassadorial nominees to Rwanda, Niger, the Maldives, the UAE, Georgia, Guyana, Ethiopia, Jordan, and Uganda.

For a long time, observers have implied that there would need to be some sort of horse trading or back-scratching between the Democrats and Republicans before Bryan David Hunt and other nominees would receive Senate approval.

In order to approve the most recent nominees, Rand Paul, a Republican senator from Kentucky, demanded that the Anthony Blinken-led State Department release Wuhan, China, COVID-19 research records.

"After two years, the State Department and USAID have agreed to release documents related to risky research conducted in Wuhan. I am pleased that both agencies are going to cooperate in our investigation and provide those critical records”, Paul was quoted on CNN.

Hunt, the next Ambassador to Freetown, Sierra Leone, earned his bachelor's degree from the School of International Service, American University, Washington, D.C. He speaks German, Portuguese, and Urdu and has been described as a career member of the Senior Foreign Service with the rank of Minister Counsellor. Bryan David Hunt - United States Department of State 

Hunt will succeed David Reimer, Trump's Sierra Leone ambassador.