ABOVE: Samantha Power. (Photo by Laurie DeWitt/Pure Light Images)
The U.S. Senate on April 28 confirmed Samantha Power as the next U.S. Agency for International Development administrator.
“Thank you everyone for your support these last months,” tweeted after the Senate confirmed her by a 68-26 vote margin. “I’m so grateful for this bipartisan vote of confidence from the Senate, and so energized to be joining the incredible @USAID team to get big things done.”
“The agency’s work around the world has never been more vital,” added Power.
Confirmed! Thank you everyone for your support these last months—I’m so grateful for this bipartisan vote of confidence from the Senate, and so energized to be joining the incredible @USAID team to get big things done. The Agency’s work around the world has never been more vital. pic.twitter.com/bUuDZQgFZC
— Samantha Power (@SamanthaJPower) April 28, 2021
Power was the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. during the Obama administration’s second term. The Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist is also a vocal champion of LGBTQ rights.
“People are suffering terribly around the world simply because of who they love and who they are,” Power told the Washington Blade during a 2017 interview before Obama left office. “Their own horizons are bounded. Their own travel plans are constricted because these rights are violated so blatantly and so brutally around the world.”
Acting USAID spokesperson Pooja Jhunjhunwala in a statement said Power’s ceremonial swearing-in will take place on Monday.
“Today, the Senate voted to confirm Ambassador Samantha Power as the 19th administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID),” said Jhunjhunwala. “USAID looks forward to her ceremonial swearing-in, scheduled to occur Monday, and the vast experience she will bring to the role as administrator.”
