After a stormy hearing before the Foreign Affairs Committee of the US Senate, St Senator Doug Mastriano (R-Adams/Franklin) is one step closer to being nominated as U.S. ambassador to Slovakia.
On Wednesday morning, the committee voted along party lines 12-10 in favor of Mastriano’s nomination. The nomination must still be approved by a Senate vote.
His. John Cornyn (R-Texas) threatened to withhold his support for Mastriano’s nomination unless the Trump administration provides evidence of progress in making funds available for the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). After receiving assurances that the government’s worldwide HIV and AIDS treatment program would receive what it was owed, Cornyn voted for approval.
Mastriano’s nomination and Lake Kari for the Ambassador to Jamaica will now be sent to the full Senate for review and probable confirmation.
Mastriano, the GOP’s 2022 candidate for governor, was criticized by Democratic committee members over past comments.
“You have contact with anti-Semites and Holocaust deniers.” You. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) Mastriano said during a hearing last Thursday. “You have associated yourself with 9/11 conspiracy theorists. Your comments about foreign leaders are not diplomatic in nature.”
He told lawmakers he was present at Trump’s speech at The Ellipse and was not involved in the Capitol riot. When asked at the hearing who won the 2020 election, Mastriano told lawmakers that Joe Biden was declared the winner.
Mastriano was also asked whether “all U.S. political leaders should be Christians,” to which he replied that he had a proven track record of upholding the Constitution and its values.
Mastriano, a former U.S. Army officer, has represented Adams and Franklin counties since 2019. He previously served in West Germany, Iraq and Afghanistan before teaching at the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle.
US Senator Dave McCormick (R-Pa.), who serves on the Committee on Foreign Affairs, expressed his support for Mastriano following his nomination.
“If confirmed, he will be a great ambassador,” McCormick said in May. “Doug dedicated his life to serving our nation in uniform and in public office, and I wish him all the best in this important role of representing America abroad.”
