On July 2, 2009, President Obama nominated Kmiec as Ambassador to Malta."Douglas Kmiec nominated to become U.S. Ambassador to Malta", Catholic News Agency, July 3, 2009. He was confirmed by the Senate. In April 2011, he was criticized by the Inspector General of the State Department for spending too much time on what the OIG reported as unofficial (religious) duties, which Kmiec saw as integral to his ambassadorial role. Joshua DuBois, special assistant to the president for faith-based initiatives, described the Kmiec nomination and appointment in precisely these terms, however, referring to a mandate (seemingly not considered by the OIG)James Oliphant writes in The American Lawyer: "at Kmiec's swearing-in ceremony in 2009, Joshua DuBois, Obama's director of religious outreach, said that Kmiec 'is an invaluable and irreplaceable voice in matters of faith and public policy to this administration.'" Oliphant, "The Maltese Fall Guy," The American Lawyer, pg.20, Vol.33, No. 6 as "the special presidential logic" of the appointment and its core mission. By contrast, the Inspector General saw the religious writing as "not directly related to his mission,"Stanley, Tiffany, "Doug Out," The New Republic, June 9. 2011, pg.7-9, quoting Deputy Inspector General Henry Geisel, who refers to Kmiec "as a good guy . . . but if you take Uncle Sam's buck, you play by Uncle Sam's rules." writes Tiffany Stanley of The New Republic. Continues Stanley: "in the annals of diplomatic misbehavior, Kmiec's is rather an unusual case. Even the critical OIG report notes that embassy morale was good, he was respected by the Maltese and his staff, and had 'achieved some policy successes'. The problem, it seems, was that Kmiec may have taken the job a little too seriously."Stanley, pg. 8 Columnist Tim Rutten of the Los Angeles Times writes: "Over the last few years, Kmiec has emerged as one of this country's most important witnesses to the proposition that religious conviction and political civility need not be at odds; that reasonable people of determined good conscience, whatever their faith or lack thereof, can find ways to cooperate in the common good. Though Kmiec has not sought their intervention, the president and the secretary of State ought to deal with the bureaucrats seeking to silence a voice whose only offense is to speak in the vocabulary of our own better angels." Kmiec did not ask the president to intervene, but instead expressing his continued confidence in the president's leadership,Catholic News, " Retrieved 2011-06-24 resigned effective May 31, 2011.Smith, Ben, "Kmiec Resigns," Politico Retrieved 2011-06-24; see also, Paul Richter, "U.S. Envoy to Malta Quits over Criticism," Los Angeles Times, Pg. A6, Sunday April 17, 2011 Retrieved 2011-06-27 from Nexis, reporting the resignation followed "criticism from the State Department's inspector general that he was devoting too much time to promoting better relations between religions."
