President Donald Trump has nominated new ambassadors to five African countries, leaving Nigeria without a substantive United States ambassador as Washington continues efforts to fill vacant diplomatic positions around the world.
The nominations, submitted to the U.S. Senate this week, include 20 ambassadorial appointments that will take effect upon confirmation by lawmakers.
For Africa, Trump nominated Stanley Brown of Virginia as ambassador to Equatorial Guinea; Nick Oberheiden of Texas to Egypt; Henry Wooster of Virginia to Kenya; Laurence Socha of Illinois to The Gambia; and Daniel Travis of California to Sierra Leone.
Nigeria was not included in the latest round of nominations, leaving uncertainty over when Washington will appoint a new ambassador to Africa’s most populous nation.
The position became vacant following the departure of Richard Merrill Mills Jr., who served as U.S. ambassador from July 2024 until January 16, 2026. Mills was among diplomats affected by the Trump administration’s global recall of ambassadors.
Since his departure, Keith Heffern has been serving as Chargé d’Affaires ad interim at the U.S. Embassy in Abuja.
According to the American Foreign Service Association’s Ambassador Tracker, 109 of the 195 ambassadorial positions worldwide were vacant as of May 19, 2026, with most vacancies relating to country missions and international organizations.
Among the other ambassadorial nominees are Mark Abreu of Florida to El Salvador, Alexander Alden of Virginia to Azerbaijan, Christopher Anderson of Wisconsin to Cambodia, Daniel Perez of Florida to Brazil, and Michael Young of Utah to Serbia.
Others awaiting Senate confirmation include Joseph Burkhalter of Georgia to Moldova, William Grayson of California to Indonesia, Douglas Holder of Florida to Bulgaria, Ronald Johnson of Massachusetts to Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Peter Snyder of Virginia to Ecuador.
Also nominated were Jennifer Johnson-Carroll of Florida to Trinidad and Tobago, Paul Kalmbach of Ohio to Paraguay, Peter McCoy of South Carolina to Montenegro, Nathaniel Morris of Kentucky to Colombia, and Keith Noreika of Pennsylvania to Lithuania.
The Senate is also expected to consider several senior administration appointments, including Carl Anderson of Virginia as Inspector General of the Department of State and Ge Bai of Virginia as Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services.
Additional nominees include Johnny Figueroa for Ambassador-at-Large for Global Health Security and Diplomacy, John Hurley as U.S. Representative to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Donald Blome as Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, Katherine Bowles as Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs, and Maria Lopez as Chairman of the Board of Veterans’ Appeals.
