A bipartisan bill to elevate the status of the U.S. special envoy on anti-Semitism passed in the U.S. Senate on Wednesday.
Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) reintroduced the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism Act in January 2019. Although the bill passed the U.S. House Representatives that same month, the Senate took it up and made changes to it. Therefore, the bill will now go to the House for passage and, barring any changes to the latest version, will then go to U.S. President Donald Trump to sign into law.
If enacted, it would upgrade the status of the special envoy to combat anti-Semitism, a position at the U.S. State Department, to an ambassadorship requiring U.S. Senate confirmation.
The president would be required to fill the position within 90 days.
Having been vacant at the start of the Trump administration, the special envoy was designated in February 2019 with the appointment of Iraq war veteran and attorney Elan Carr.
