(Jewish Group) Senate advances nomination of Deborah Lipstadt as antisemitism envoy

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved the nomination of Deborah E. Lipstadt to be the State Department’s envoy to combat and monitor antisemitism by a bipartisan 13-9 vote after a long-delayed process.

Two Republicans Senators, Mitt Romney from Utah and Marco Rubio from Florida, voted in favor of Lipstadt in the 22-member committee.

If her nomination is confirmed by the full Senate, the job will be hers.

The special envoy’s office was established by the Global Anti-Semitism Review Act of 2004 and largely focuses on global antisemitism. Lipstadt, one of the world’s most respected historians of the Holocaust who teaches at Emory University, and was nominated by President Joe Biden in July. The position requires Senate confirmation because Congress elevated it to the rank of an ambassador last year.

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