The Senate voted to confirm Holocaust historian Deborah Lipstadt on Wednesday to serve as a special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism, ABC News reported.
Lipstadt was nominated for the role by President Joe Biden eight months ago, but her hearing was delayed after tweets resurfaced of her criticizing Republican politicians.
Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., objected to her nomination while up in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday, citing a past tweet from Lipstadt featuring a news story about him titled "Senator Johnson slammed as 'white nationalist sympathizer' after race remarks."
"This is white supremacy/nationalism. Pure and simple," Lipstadt said of the story at the time.
But concerns from some Republicans didn't stick, and in a voice vote on Wednesday, Lipstadt was confirmed to the role by the upper chamber.
A broad range of Jewish advocacy groups, including the Orthodox Union and the American Jewish Committee, supported her nomination for the role and congratulated her after her confirmation.
"It took way too long but we are excited that the most qualified person for the job will finally be able to get busy combatting antisemitism," tweeted Rabbi Richard Jacobs, the president of the Union for Reform Judaism.
Lipstadt's new role in the State Department makes her responsible for advancing "U.S. foreign policy on antisemitism" and developing and implementing "policies and projects to support efforts to combat antisemitism," the department's website reads.
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