The White House has announced President Joe Biden’s intended nominee for the State Department post that oversees consular affairs.

Key Points:  

  • Biden will nominate Rena Bitter for Assistant Secretary of State, Consular Affairs.
  • Bitter is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service and Dean of the Leadership and Management School at the State Department’s Foreign Service Institute. She was previously the U.S. ambassador to Laos, U.S. Consul General in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, and chief of the consular section in Amman, Jordan. She also served in London, Bogota and Mexico City. In Washington, she was Director of the State Department’s Operations Center and a Special Assistant to the Secretary of State.
  • The nomination is subject to Senate confirmation.

Additional Information: The White House announced Biden’s pick for Consular Affairs Wednesday. Earlier this month, the White House announced Biden’s nominations of Ur Mendoza Jaddou to be director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and Chris Magnus for commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Biden has not yet announced a pick for director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The Senate confirmed Biden’s pick for Secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, in February.

This alert has been provided by the BAL U.S. Practice group. For additional information, please contact berryapplemanleiden@bal.com.

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