Phnom Penh (FN), Jan. 8 – The nomination of US Ambassador to Cambodia W. Patrick Murphy, of Vermont, returned to the President under the provisions of Senate Rule XXXI, paragraph 6 of the Standing Rules of the Senate, according to the decision on 03 January 2019.

As a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service, W. Patrick Murphy was nominated to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Kingdom of Cambodia on 10 August 2018, replacing outgoing Ambassador William A. Heidt.

Nominations that are not confirmed or rejected are returned to the President at the end of a session or when the Senate adjourns or recesses for more than 30 days (Senate Rule XXXI, paragraph 6). If the President still wants a nominee considered, he must submit a new nomination to the Senate. The Senate can, however, waive this rule by unanimous consent, and it often does to allow nominations to remain “in status quo” between the first and second sessions of a Congress or during a long recess, according to Elizabeth Rybicki, Specialist on Congress and the Legislative Process, in her “Senate Consideration of Presidential Nominations: Committee and Floor Procedure”.

W. Patrick Murphy is currently Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, Department of State.
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