Overview
- About 115 of 195 ambassador posts are empty, including in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Iraq, Kuwait, Ukraine and Russia.
- In Africa, 37 of 51 embassies lack a confirmed ambassador, which leaves lower‑ranked chargés d’affaires with less pull to secure top‑level meetings.
- The shortfall stems from slow White House nominations, Senate delays in confirmations, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s December recall of nearly 30 career envoys.
- The administration says policy work continues through special envoys and trusted advisers, and it is reviving its nominations panel after sending a new slate to the Senate.
- One sign of strain is Kyiv, where acting envoy Julie Davis is also the ambassador to Cyprus and is set to retire in June, which could thin U.S. bandwidth on war diplomacy.