Washington – The United States Senate has returned to President Joe Biden the nomination of Joshua M. Harris, a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service with the rank of Counselor, to serve as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria.
The decision was made on January 3, 2025, under the provisions of Senate Rule XXXI, paragraph 6, of the Standing Rules of the Senate, which stipulates that nominations not confirmed during the previous legislative session are returned to the President.
The White House had nominated Mr. Harris, a Maryland native, for this key diplomatic post aimed at strengthening relations between Washington and Algiers. However, the return of his nomination means it must either be resubmitted in the current session or a new candidate put forward.
This appointment comes at a highly sensitive moment for Algeria, which international media describe as facing its most serious internal crisis since the “Black Decade” civil war of the 1990s. The situation escalated following the escape abroad, by boat, of senior security official Nasser Djenn, an incident seen as a sign of an unprecedented crisis shaking the state’s institutions and heightening political and security tensions.
