WASHINGTON — Rep. Wesley Hunt of Texas, President Trump’s nominee for ambassador to Saudi Arabia, told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday that he would build on the administration’s defense, investment and nuclear-energy agreements with the kingdom, as the panel took testimony from 10 ambassador nominees in a single two-panel hearing.
“Under President Trump’s leadership, we have a historic opportunity to deepen the U.S.-Saudi partnership, strengthen American security, advance our economic and energy interests, confront common adversaries, and build a more peaceful Middle East through American strength,” Hunt said in his prepared statement.
Hunt, a West Point graduate and former Army Apache pilot who said he flew 55 combat missions over Baghdad and served two tours in Saudi Arabia as a military diplomatic liaison officer, pointed to Trump’s May 2025 visit to Riyadh and his November 2025 hosting of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. He said those meetings produced “a $1 trillion Saudi investment commitment in the United States,” and he cited Trump’s designation of Saudi Arabia as a major non-NATO ally, a Strategic Defense Agreement and a defense sales package “including future F-35 deliveries.”
The committee took no votes. Hunt’s nomination is PN1273-9 in the Senate’s records.
Who testified
The first panel paired Nick Oberheiden of Texas, nominated for Egypt, with Peter Snyder of Virginia (Ecuador), Kimberly Greenwood of Tennessee (Barbados and six other Eastern Caribbean states), Paul Kalmbach of Ohio (Paraguay) and Jane “Cissie” Graham Lynch of North Carolina, nominated as ambassador at large for international religious freedom. The second panel was Hunt, Dino LaVerghetta of Virginia (Kuwait), Devin Kennington of California (Somalia), and two career Foreign Service officers: Junaid Munir (Djibouti) and Paul Watzlavick (Suriname), according to the committee’s hearing page.
Oberheiden, a lawyer who said he has lived in the United States for 22 years, told senators that Egypt is “a vital ally, and a friend” and credited “President Trump and President el-Sisi” with the 2025 Gaza ceasefire and hostage-release agreement. If confirmed, he said, he would keep implementing “the President’s Comprehensive Peace Plan for Gaza” and work with Cairo on Libya, Sudan and Iran, according to his statement. A summary of the hearing by the tracking service Hearing Highlights said Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, the committee’s top Democrat, pressed Oberheiden on Egypt’s treatment of the press, and that he said he would raise concerns in private dialogue rather than lecture Egyptian officials.
LaVerghetta, who served in the White House Counsel’s office in both Trump terms, said Kuwait had kept “faith with us even under direct Iranian fire this year” and that two-way trade exceeds $5 billion. “If confirmed, my first and utmost priority will be the safety of our mission and the Americans in Kuwait,” he said in his statement.
Snyder, a technology entrepreneur who said he helped pioneer social media marketing in the late 1990s, said Ecuador’s President Daniel Noboa and its people “have asked for our help” against drug trafficking and illegal migration, according to his statement. Hearing Highlights said Sen. Mark Warner, a Virginia Democrat, endorsed Snyder despite their political differences.
Religious freedom post
Sen. Ted Budd of North Carolina introduced Lynch, the daughter of Franklin Graham, as an “unwavering voice for the voiceless,” Decision magazine, published by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, reported. Democratic Sens. Tim Kaine of Virginia and Shaheen asked how she would protect people whose beliefs differ from hers, and she replied that her duty would be to stand for all who are persecuted for their faith, the magazine said.
“I’ve stood in the mass graveyards in northern Iraq,” Lynch said, according to her statement. “They are not statistics. They have faces, names, and families.”
What comes next
Hearing Highlights reported that Chairman Jim Risch of Idaho kept the record open through Thursday, Nov. 12, for senators’ written questions. The committee would then have to schedule a business meeting to vote on the nominations before they could reach the Senate floor in the lame-duck session, which runs up against a Dec. 11 funding deadline.
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