US President Donald Trump has withdrawn the nomination of Joel Rayburn for assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs, the leading Middle East position at the State Department.
According to a notice in Congress's filing system, Mr Trump sent the message of withdrawal on Monday.
Mr Rayburn declined to comment, as did the State Department. The White House confirmed the nomination had been withdrawn.
Mr Trump nominated Mr Rayburn in February for the role and the Senate foreign relations committee held his confirmation hearing in May.
But Republican Senator Rand Paul and committee Democrats had concerns about Mr Trump's choice, and the panel held an unusual vote last week in favour only of advancing the nomination, not recommending Mr Rayburn to the full Senate.
The Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs has not had a Senate-confirmed assistant secretary since January, when Barbara Leaf left.
Mr Rayburn is a military veteran and a diplomat with years of experience in the region. He held several roles during Mr Trump’s first term, including from 2018 to 2021, when he was US special envoy for Syria.
In this role, he helped to steer US policy with regard to the regime of former president Bashar Al Assad, who was removed late last year.
Senators had questioned whether Mr Rayburn had been involved in misleading US officials about the number of US troops in Syria during Mr Trump's first term. Mr Rayburn said at the hearing that he had no role in any deception.
He was also senior director for Iran, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon at the National Security Council at the start of Mr Trump’s first term.
