Gayle Smith, senior director at the National Security Council, has received Senate confirmation as the new administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, the New York Times reported Monday.
Ron Nixon writes the Senate voted 79 to 7 to confirm Smith as a successor to Rajiv Shah, who resigned from his post at USAID in February.
Smith currently serves as a special assistant to the U.S. president and has helped NSCÂ address humanitarian assistance, global development and democracy issues.
She was senior director for African affairs at NSC during the Clinton administration and served as a senior adviser to the chief of staff and administrator of USAID.
She also worked as a journalist and covered economic, military and political affairs in Africa for more than two decades.
President Barack Obama nominated Smith for the USAID post in April.
