Dakhla consulate plans pushed by the Biden administration

The Biden administration is not planning to open a consulate in Dakhla anytime soon. Funding for this project is not included in the 2025 budget of American diplomacy.

This announcement was made on Monday, March 11, by Richard R. Verma, Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources. «I think that some of the planning is still ongoing for the appropriate presence, given the security conditions», he responded to a question on the subject.

Verma is the State Department's chief operations officer and directs modernization projects, foreign assistance, and personnel and strategy issues. The diplomat also ruled out any funding for a consulate in Al Quds East.

The opening of a diplomatic representation of the United States in Dakhla was expected to consolidate the United States’ recognition of Morocco’s sovereignty over the Sahara, which was announced by the Trump administration on December 10, 2020. Two weeks later, the former American ambassador in Rabat, David T. Fischer, inaugurated the American virtual presence post in the province.

For his part, the former American Under-Secretary of State in charge of Middle East and North Africa issues, David Schenker, visited Dakhla on January 9, 2021, where he co-chaired a political meeting with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nasser Bourita.

After Donald Trump left the White House on January 20, 2021, President Biden faced opposition to launching the project. Senators had even prohibited the State Department from drawing on its financial resources for the construction of a diplomatic representation of the United States in Dakhla.