WASHINGTON - Jeremy Carl, nominated by President Donald Trump for the role of assistant secretary of state for international organizations, removed himself from consideration on Tuesday after sustained controversy over previous comments about Jewish people and remarks that critics tied to a white supremacist conspiracy theory. The withdrawal followed an erosion of support among Republican members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
In a post on X, Carl thanked President Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio for their backing but said that their endorsements were insufficient to advance his nomination. "We also needed the unanimous support of every GOP Senator on the Committee on Foreign Relations, given the unanimous opposition of Senate Democrats to my candidacy, and unfortunately, at this time this unanimous support was not forthcoming," he wrote, using the acronym for Grand Old Party.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee customarily votes on a nominee before the nomination proceeds to the full Senate for a confirmation vote. Carl’s prospects were clouded after Republican Senator John Curtis of Utah - a committee member - publicly stated following Carl’s February confirmation hearing that he did not view Carl as the appropriate representative for U.S. interests at international organizations. Curtis pointed to what he described as Carl’s "anti-Israel views" and "insensitive remarks" about Jewish people as disqualifying concerns.
Failing to back a presidential nominee is an uncommon rebuke from a Republican-majority Senate that has, to date, supported the majority of the president’s appointments and policies. The White House and State Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
During his confirmation hearing, Carl faced sustained questioning from lawmakers about his prior statements regarding Jewish people and his comments related to the so-called "great replacement theory," a discredited conspiracy theory associated with white supremacy that alleges elites are engineering the ethnic and cultural replacement of white people with non-white immigrants. At the hearing, Carl said he did not remember making some of the comments that senators read aloud and expressed regret for others. He specifically acknowledged: "I made some comments in interviews about minimizing the effects of the Holocaust that were absolutely wrong."
When senators asked whether he believed an effort to replace white Americans was underway, Carl said he believed Democratic immigration policies have "certainly sent signs of that."
Carl currently serves as a senior fellow at the conservative Claremont Institute think tank and was a deputy assistant secretary at the Department of the Interior during the president’s first term.
Context and implications
Carl’s decision to withdraw came after his remarks provoked not only unanimous opposition from Senate Democrats but also a rare public split within Republican ranks on the Foreign Relations Committee. The committee member opposition meant Carl lacked the unanimous GOP endorsement he cited as necessary to avoid a protracted confirmation fight.
Members of the committee had read and discussed a range of Carl’s prior statements during the hearing, and his responses included both denials of recollection for some comments and direct acknowledgments of error for others. The matter of his views on Jewish people and his characterization of immigration policy were central to the committee’s concerns.
Statement excerpt
"We also needed the unanimous support of every GOP Senator on the Committee on Foreign Relations, given the unanimous opposition of Senate Democrats to my candidacy, and unfortunately, at this time this unanimous support was not forthcoming."
Note: This article reflects statements made publicly by the nominee, comments from members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and the nominee's institutional affiliations as presented during the confirmation process.