Dorothy Shea

Shea with Lebanese Prime Minister Hassan Diab

On October 11, 2019, President Trump announced his intent to nominate Shea to be the next United States Ambassador to Lebanon. On October 17, 2019, her nomination was sent to the United States Senate.[3] On December 17, 2019, a hearing was held on her nomination before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.[4] On January 15, 2020, her nomination was reported out of committee. On February 11, 2020, her nomination was unanimously confirmed by voice vote.[5] She presented her credentials to President Michel Aoun on March 11, 2020.[6]

Within a few months after assuming her ambassadorship in Lebanon, Shea vocally criticized Hezbollah, a militant group and political organization in Lebanon which is labelled a terrorist organization by the United States and several other countries. Shea accused Hezbollah of interfering in attempts to improve Lebanon's devastated economy and of draining billions of dollars in funds from the Lebanese government. She also criticized a speech by Hezbollah's leader Hassan Nasrallah blaming the United States for the economic crisis. In June 2020, following her remarks, Judge Mohammad Mazeh accused her of violating the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. He said that her comments interfered in Lebanon's internal affairs, "offended many Lebanese," and increased sectarian tensions. Mazeh passed an order preventing her from making any public statement, as well as forbidding any local or foreign media outlet working in Lebanon from conducting interviews with her or on pain of a $200,000 fine.[7][8] However, the decision was not implemented, and Mazeh was called to appear before the Judicial Inspection Board. He refused and submitted his resignation.[9][10] Justice Minister Marie-Claude Najm accepted it on 14 July.[11]