White House Withdraws Joel Rayburn for Top Foreign Policy Position

Is there a brewing crisis in the State Dept’s Mideast Bureau?

President Donald Trump withdrew the nomination of Joel Rayburn to lead the State Department’s Near Eastern affairs bureau, leaving the office in the hands of a controversial interim leader.The primary obstacle to Rayburn’s nomination appears to have been his role in the first Trump administration working under James Jeffrey, who later admitted to misleading Trump about the number of U.S. troops in Syria in an effort to prevent a military withdra…

White House withdraws Joel Rayburn for top foreign policy position

The White House has pulled Joel Rayburn’s nomination to be assistant secretary of state for near Eastern affairs, two sources familiar with the matter confirmed to Jewish Insider on Monday. A source familiar with the Trump administration’s thinking said Rayburn was withdrawn because “he did not have the votes.” “The administration will proceed in a different direction,” the source said of moving forward with a new nominee. Despite claims that Ra…

White House withdraws nominee for top Middle East post: Source

Joel Rayburn’s nomination to lead State Department’s Middle East bureau withdrawn after he lacked enough support from lawmakers, says source familiar with the matter - Anadolu Ajansı

White House yanks another controversial Trump nomination

President Donald Trump withdrew another one of his particularly controversial nominees, Axios reported on Monday — this time for the Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs.Joel Rayburn, who served as a special envoy to the Middle East for Trump in his previous term, "was controversial due to his alleged involvement in obscuring U.S. troop levels in Syria from President Trump in his first term, when he served as Trump's special env…

Another Trump Pick Has Nomination Yanked

Anadolu Agency via Getty Images Yet another pick by President Donald Trump got their nomination yanked. The White House has pulled Joel Rayburn’s nomination to become Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs. A source familiar with the matter told the Daily Beast on Monday that he did…