Herschel Walker Confirmed As The Bahamas’ U.S. Ambassador

The position had been vacant since 2011.

The U.S. Senate has confirmed former NFL star Herschel Walker as the ambassador to the Bahamas, filling a position that has been vacant for nearly 15 years.

Walker was among more than 100 nominations confirmed in a single vote by the GOP-controlled Senate on Oct. 7, Reuters reports. The confirmation follows recent rule changes by Republican lawmakers aimed at speeding up the approval of President Donald Trump’s nominees.

Despite the Bahamas’ close ties with the U.S., the country has lacked an ambassador since 2011. According to the State Department’s Office of the Historian, it was one of just five nations, including Bolivia and Cuba, without a U.S. ambassador for over a decade.

A series of chargés have headed the U.S. Embassy in the Bahamas d’affaires up until Walker’s confirmation. The last U.S. ambassador to the Bahamas was Nicole Avant, appointed by former President Barack Obama, who served until 2011. In 2014, Obama nominated Cassandra Butts, his former deputy White House counsel, for the role, but the Senate never acted on the nomination. He re-nominated her the following year, but she died while her nomination was pending.

Wendall Jones, the Bahamian ambassador to the U.S., said Walker “will be warmly welcomed by Bahamians who are widely known for their hospitality.” He added that Walker would be “well-positioned to assist our government in communicating on many issues of mutual concern.”

Walker played 12 seasons in the NFL with the Dallas Cowboys, Minnesota Vikings, Philadelphia Eagles, and New York Giants. He won the Heisman Trophy while starring at at the University of Georgia.

A committed Republican and close ally of Donald Trump, Walker ran unsuccessfully for a U.S. Senate seat in Georgia in 2022, losing to Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock in a runoff. His campaign was clouded by controversy, including reports that Walker, who ran on an anti-abortion platform, had paid for an abortion in 2009. Walker acknowledged giving a $700 check to an ex-partner but denied knowing it was for an abortion. Trump defended him during the scandal, and Walker later returned the support in the lead-up to the 2024 presidential election.

In December 2024, Trump nominated Walker for the ambassadorship post, praising him as “an Ambassador to our Nation’s youth, our men and women in the Military, and athletes at home and abroad.”