The
U.S. Agency for International Development could be getting its new leader very
soon. Hill sources tell The Cable
that a Senate vote on confirming Rajiv
Shah for the USAID job could come as early as Friday.
The
Senate Foreign Relations Committee moved the ball forward by reporting the Shah
nomination out favorably Tuesday by a unanimous voice vote. The urgency in
getting Shah in place is felt both on Capitol Hill and Foggy Bottom.
Shah
is supposed to play a role on both the QDDR, the State Department's Quadrennial
Diplomacy and Development Review, and the NSC's Presidential Study Directive on
Global Development, or PSD-7 for short. But although the PSD process has been
slowed to allow his involvement and the QDDR is just slow, the issues they deal
with are moving quickly.
USAID
is involved in a surge of civilian personnel to Afghanistan, which is now slated to
increase
in size as part of the administration's new strategy. And the White House's Office
of Management and Budget has now given State its top-line budget limit for
fiscal 2011, according to sources, meaning that final crafting of the budget request
is going on now.
As
for the QDDR, although final results aren't expected until later next year,
progress is being made. State Department officials involved in the QDDR working
groups say they have now submitted their interim recommendations up the food
chain and have been briefing senior State Department management. The interim results
could come out early next year, around the same time the PSD is expected.
All
of these moving forces point to a need to get Shah in place quickly. That's if
he hopes to really be a voice fighting to "rebuild all types of capacity at
USAID, including policy expertise," as he told senators during his
confirmation hearing.
The
committee also reported out the following nominations in today's business
meeting:
Mary Burce Warlick to be ambassador to the Republic
of Serbia
James B. Warlick Jr. to be ambassador to the Republic
of Bulgaria
Eleni Tsakopoulos Kounalakis to be ambassador to the Republic
of Hungary
Leslie V. Rowe to be ambassador to the Republic
of Mozambique
Alberto M. Fernandez to be ambassador to the Republic
of Equatorial Guinea
Mary Jo Wills to be ambassador to the Republic
of Mauritius, and to serve concurrently and without additional compensation as ambassador
to the Republic of Seychelles
Jide J. Zeitlin to be representative of the
United States to the United Nations for U.N. management and reform, with the
rank of ambassador and alternate representative of the United States to the sessions
of the General Assembly of the United Nations during his tenure
Anne Slaughter Andrew to be ambassador to the Republic
of Costa Rica
David Daniel Nelson to be ambassador to the Oriental Republic of
Uruguay
Betty E. King to be representative of the
United States to the Office of the United Nations and Other International
Organizations in Geneva, with the rank of ambassador
Laura E. Kennedy for the rank of ambassador during her tenure
of service as U.S. representative to the Conference on Disarmament
Eileen Chamberlain Donahoe for the rank of ambassador during
her tenure of service as the United States representative to the U.N. Human
Rights Council
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