The House of Representatives Building and the East Portico of the US Capitol. Photo: Flickr.

JNS.org – A bipartisan bill to elevate the status of the US special envoy on antisemitism overwhelmingly passed in the US Senate on Wednesday.

Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) reintroduced the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism Act in January 2019. Although the bill passed the US House Representatives that same month, the Senate took it up and made changes to it. Therefore, the bill will now go to the House for passage and, barring any changes to the latest version, will then go to US President Donald Trump to sign into law.

If enacted, it would upgrade the status of the special envoy to combat antisemitism, a position at the US State Department, to an ambassadorship requiring US Senate confirmation.

The president would be required to fill the position within 90 days.

Having been vacant at the start of the Trump administration, the special envoy was designated in February 2019 with the appointment of Iraq war veteran and attorney Elan Carr.

US President-elect Joe Biden will have the first opportunity to nominate someone to the soon-to-be elevated role after taking office next month.