WASHINGTON — Georgia native and football great Herschel Walker is now officially the U.S. ambassador to the Bahamas.
Walker was confirmed this week by the U.S. Senate as part of a bloc of more than 100 people. The Senate this summer changed its rules to allow executive branch nominees to be confirmed as a group, a move by Republicans to circumvent Democrats’ efforts to slow down the process under President Donald Trump.
Walker is a longtime friend of Trump and received his endorsement when he unsuccessfully challenged U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock in 2022. He kept a relatively low profile afterward, returning to the University of Georgia to complete a bachelor’s degree.
Walker resurfaced on the campaign trail in 2024 as Trump sought a return to the White House.
He will be the first permanent ambassador to the Bahamas in 15 years.
Others have been nominated to the post during previous presidents’ terms but were not confirmed.
That includes Calvin Smyre, the former dean of Georgia’s Legislature who resigned from the state House after President Joe Biden nominated him to serve as Bahamian ambassador. When the Senate did not confirm him, Biden nominated Smyre a second time. When the Senate sent that nomination back without a vote, Biden chose not to submit the name a third time.
There were others with connections to Georgia confirmed this week alongside Walker.
Bill White, the leader of the failed Buckhead cityhood movement, was confirmed as ambassador to Belgium, and political operative Billy Kirkland was confirmed as assistant secretary of the Interior Department as part of that same group.
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