The US Senate approved the first female ambassador to Vietnam

According to the US congressional website, the Senate on May 18 approved the nomination of Jennifer Wicks McNamara to be the first female US ambassador to Vietnam, with 46 votes in favor and 43 votes against. The most recent US Ambassador to Vietnam, Mr. Marc Knapper, ended his term on January 18.

Ms. Jennifer Wicks McNamara is a professional civil servant with nearly 31 years of experience working in the US government, according to the Competency Certification Announcement for Chief of Mission Candidates published by the US Department of State on October 29, 2025.

She began her government career with a job in the US Army, stationed in Korea, then Hawaii and Virginia. In 2003, she transferred to the US Department of State and since then has held many positions such as chief of staff of the Foreign Assistance Resources Agency, senior advisor for administration and public affairs to the Under Secretary of State for Operations and special assistant to the Assistant Secretary of State for Operations.

She has held the position of Director of the US Presidential Appointments Office at the White House since November 2012 and has served through four administrations. In this position, she regularly works with senior officials at the White House and the State Department.

In her opening speech before the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee in December 2025, Ms. Wicks reaffirmed the commitment of President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio to consider Vietnam one of the most important partners of the United States in the region. “A strong, independent and resilient Vietnam will benefit America,” she said.

She described the two countries as developing dynamic bilateral relations, with cooperation in many fields from security – defense, to trade – investment and people-to-people diplomacy.

She said that the foundation of Vietnam – US defense cooperation is “extensive efforts to resolve the consequences of war”, including support for mine clearance and dioxin detoxification in Da Nang and Bien Hoa. She reiterated that Vietnam over the past decades has provided important support in repatriating more than 1,000 American military remains.

The two countries are also expanding cooperation in issues of ensuring regional stability and fighting transnational crimes, including fighting online fraud.

Ms. Wicks also praised Vietnam-US bilateral trade cooperation, which has grown dramatically in the past few years, emphasizing the “incredible potential for shared economic growth” of this relationship. The connection between the people of the two countries is also growing strongly, in which Vietnamese Americans are currently the fourth largest Asian community in the US and the two countries have many bilateral exchanges in education, culture, and tourism.

“Through open dialogue, the two countries will continue to promote regional security, share prosperity and develop bilateral partnership,” Ms. Wicks said at the hearing.