Since 2017, the US embassy in Rabat has been without an ambassador

On November the 21st, 2017, the White House announced in a communiqué that President Donald Trump nominated American businessman David T. Fischer to be the next US ambassador to Morocco. Since then, the candidate has been waiting for his nomination to get confirmed by the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, a committee charged with leading foreign-policy legislation and debate in the Senate.

Neventheless, Fischer was heard, in August 2018, by senators but without receiving the go-ahead in January to take office in Morocco. The President reacted, immediately, to that by reappointing David T. Fischer, of Michigan, «to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Kingdom of Morocco», revealed the White House on January the 16th in a list of nominations sent to the Senate.

Indeed, Fischer who is Chairman and CEO of the Suburban Collection, had generously contributed to the electoral campaign of the current US President.

The hearings scheduled by the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations do not feature the name of Fischer, who has been nominated twice by Donald Trump.

Would this delay affect relations between Rabat and Washington ?

Would delaying the confirmation of Fischer’s nomination affect relations between Rabat and Washington ? «Absolutely not», a well-informed source, which requested anonymity, told Yabiladi. Morocco is not the only country to experience this «slight setback». The same source pointed out that «other countries, which are allies of the US, are in the same boat», including to Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar.

Referring to other delayed appointments of US officials, the same source cited the example of David Schenker, who was nominated in April 2018 by Trump to be Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs.

However, the Senate confirmed on March 6, 2019 the nomination of retired General John Philip Abizaid and Matthew H. Tueller, respectively ambassadors to Saudi Arabia and Iraq. In January, senators approved the appointment of Donald Armin Blome as the US ambassador to Tunisia.

The nominations of these diplomats by the Trump administration came several months after David T. Fischer, was chosen by the White House to head the American diplomatic mission in the Kingdom of Morocco.