Missing ambassadors, inexperienced appointees – is Washington dropping the diplomatic ball?

Despite the Senate confirming 10 new ambassadors in late September 2026, 92 of 196 ambassador posts remain vacant, including in strategically significant countries like Belarus, Bulgaria, Egypt, Pakistan, Indonesia and Haiti. Some vacancies trace to the White House never sending nominees; others sit stalled in a Senate controlled by the president's own party.

Roughly 80% of the names Trump has sent to the Senate in his second term are political appointees rather than career foreign service officers, up from about 40% under the first Trump and Biden administrations and 30% under Obama. Examples cited include a Palm Beach restaurant owner and Mar-a-Lago member now serving as ambassador to the Philippines, and a former Trump adviser now ambassador to Greece.

The State Department under Secretary Rubio also canceled the assignments of senior career officers headed to deputy chief of mission posts in 2025 and reopened hiring, part of a broader effort MAGA Republicans framed as rooting out 'deep state' civil servants. The practice leaves inexperienced political ambassadors without experienced deputies to help them navigate the bureaucracy.

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