CANBERRA — President Donald Trump nominated former congressman David Brat to serve as U.S. ambassador to Australia on Tuesday morning, Australian time. The White House submitted the nomination for Senate confirmation alongside a series of bureaucratic appointments to U.S. government posts.

The ambassadorial post in Canberra had been vacant for 15 months, since Caroline Kennedy left the role in November 2024. Senate confirmation for diplomatic posts can take weeks or months. Arthur B. Culvahouse, the first ambassador to Canberra appointed by Trump during his first term, took up the role two years into that term.

Brat served two terms in the U.S. Congress until 2018, when he lost his Virginia seat to Democrat Abigail Spanberger. He had first come to national attention in 2014, when he defeated House majority leader Eric Cantor in a Virginia Republican primary, ending Cantor's political career. In Washington, Brat joined the GOP Freedom Caucus and aligned himself with the Republican Tea Party movement. He currently serves as vice-president of business relations at Liberty University.

Brat was born and raised in rural Michigan, the son of a doctor and a social worker. His family moved to Minnesota in the late 1970s. He studied business administration at university in Michigan, later earning a PhD in economics from American University and a Masters of Divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary, where he wrote a thesis on logical positivism and its impact on economic science. He has ties to Catholic, Calvinist, Episcopal, Presbyterian and Methodist congregations.

In a 2010 paper, Brat co-authored an assessment of the moral foundations of Ayn Rand's writing. In a 2011 paper, he argued that capitalism and Christianity should merge. "If we all did the right thing and had the guts to spread the word, we would not need the government to backstop every action we take," Brat wrote.

Shadow foreign minister Ted O'Brien welcomed the appointment on social media. "The alliance remains central to Australia's future, but there is no shortage of work to do on the relationship. I look forward to working with Mr Brat," O'Brien posted.