UPDATE - White House withdraws nominee for top Middle East post: Source

ADDS CONFIRMATION FROM A SOURCE, CHANGES HEADLINE, DECK, LEDE

By Rabia Iclal Turan

WASHINGTON (AA) - The White House has withdrawn the nomination of Joel Rayburn to serve as Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, a source familiar with the matter told Anadolu.

The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Rayburn’s nomination was withdrawn because he did not have the support of enough lawmakers. The administration is expected to nominate an alternative candidate for the position.

Rayburn, a former US Army officer and State Department official in the Trump administration’s first term, had faced resistance in the Senate over his alleged role in obscuring US troop levels in Syria when he served as President Donald Trump’s special envoy for Syria.

Nominated by Trump in February to lead the State Department’s Middle East bureau, Rayburn’s confirmation had stalled for months before advancing out of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last week with a 15–7 vote.

However, Republican Senator Rand Paul and committee Democrats reportedly raised concerns about his record in Syria, prompting the panel to advance his nomination without recommending him to the full Senate.

"We voted him last week out with no recommendation," Paul told Axios, which first reported the story.

Rayburn denied during his hearing in May that he had any role in misleading US officials about troop levels in Syria.

In December 2018, Trump announced plans to withdraw all 2,000 US troops from Syria, declaring ISIS (Daesh) defeated. However, he later reversed course amid strong backlash from Congress, the Pentagon and members of his own national security bureaucracy.

The Pentagon announced in April that it would consolidate US forces in Syria under Operation Inherent Resolve and reduce troop numbers to below 1,000 in the coming months.

In May, Trump ordered the lifting of most US sanctions on Syria after meeting Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, though the 2019 Caesar Act authorizing such measures remains in force.

*Michael Hernandez contributed this story.