WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate adjourned its two year-term without confirming Calvin Smyre to serve as ambassador to the Bahamas.
He is among roughly 20 of President Joe Biden’s ambassadorship nominees who were not confirmed by the time Congress ended its session Tuesday morning and started a new one. Now, Biden must decide whether to renominate Smyre and the others to start the process anew.
Biden announced in September 2021 that he wanted Smyre to serve as ambassador to the Dominican Republic before changing his mind and nominating Smyre to the Bahamas post in May. In the months that followed, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee never discussed Smyre or asked him to appear at a meeting.
Throughout that time, Smyre declined to speak publicly about the confirmation process. As the congressional session wound down, spokespeople for Georgia U.S. Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock said they had no updates to share.
A White House representative also said last week that there were no updates, such as whether Biden will reappoint Smyre. The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday that Biden plans to renominate dozens of appointees as the new congressional session gets underway, but there is no word whether Smyre will be among them.
Smyre, a Democrat from Columbus, was the longest-serving member of the Georgia House when he stepped down at the end of the 2022 session with 48 years of service under his belt. He said at the time that his nomination to serve as one of Biden’s ambassadors sped up his retirement plans.
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