Natalie Baker nominated US ambassador to Pakistan: who she is and what happens next

President Donald Trump has nominated Natalie Baker, a career diplomat who has run the US Embassy in Islamabad as chargé d'affaires, to be the next US ambassador to Pakistan. The White House announced the nomination on Monday 9 November 2026, and it now goes to the US Senate, which must confirm her before she can formally take the post, Business Recorder and ARY News reported on Tuesday.

Who Natalie Baker is

The White House describes her as "Natalie Baker, of Texas", a career member of the Senior Foreign Service at the rank of Minister-Counselor. She is currently the US chargé d'affaires to Pakistan, meaning she leads the embassy in the absence of an ambassador. She became the embassy's Deputy Chief of Mission on 16 August 2024.

Her earlier postings, as listed in the reports:

• Deputy Chief of Mission at the US Embassy in Doha, Qatar
• Director of the Office of North African Affairs in the State Department's Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs
• Deputy chief and chargé d'affaires at the US Mission to Libya
• Deputy Director of the Iran Regional Presence Office at the US Consulate in Dubai
• Economic Counselor at the US Embassy in Kuwait, where she worked with the Defense Department on the withdrawal of US forces from Iraq

Business Recorder notes that Donald Blome was the last diplomat to serve as US ambassador to Pakistan.

What happens next

An ambassador nominee does not take up the post on announcement. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee normally holds a hearing, the committee votes, and the full Senate then confirms or rejects the nomination. No timetable has been reported. Until a vote is held, Baker keeps running the embassy as chargé d'affaires, so nothing changes in who leads it today.

What it means for readers in Pakistan

• Day to day, nothing changes yet. Visa interviews, appointments and fees are handled by the embassy's consular section, which a nomination does not alter. Check the embassy's own site for appointment rules before you pay any agent.
• Money flowing between the two countries. If you send or receive dollars from family in the US, the exchange rate matters more than who the ambassador is: see today's US dollar to rupee rate and our currency converter.
• Why it matters politically. An ambassador with Senate confirmation carries more weight in Washington than a chargé, and the White House has now named the person who has been running the embassy, rather than bringing in an outsider.

More US coverage is on our US desk.