A lawyer who owns a chain of beauty salons is rejoining the Trump administration to help oversee approvals for immigrants coming to the United States.

Mora Namdar was named the Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs in the State Department on Monday. 

Its her second time in the role, as she’d also served on an interim basis under Trump in 2020. 

She has previously worked in the second Trump administration as a Senior Bureau Official in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, where her post involved diplomacy in the Middle East and Northern Africa.

Namdar ran a law firm named after herself with two locations in Dallas and Washington DC. 

She also owns Bam, a chain of beauty salons in her native Texas. Bam has locations in her hometown of Dallas, as well as in Fort Worth and Plano, and specializes in blowouts. 

‘It dawned on me that there is a need for a gorgeous place that treats the styling of women like a form of art,’ she said of her business to DMagazine back in 2017. 

The website for Namdar Law recently announced that she was no longer in active practice due to her new position, as requested by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. 

Her work as Assistant Secretary will see Namdar – a child of Iranian immigrants – in charge of visa approvals and revocations, as well as issuing passports, and she appears to fit in with the president’s hardline immigration stances.  

She said in her Senate confirmation hearing that anyone who ‘undermine[s] our foreign policy, [then] consular officers have the authority to revoke their visa.’ 

Her State Department bio cites work on Donald Trump’s Gaza peace plan and work on stopping Iran’s nuclear program. 

Namdar was hugely critical of Joe Biden’s attempts to negotiate with the Iranians during his time in office. 

She said that the Iranian government was committing ‘genocide’ against its own citizens and told staffers to rewrite memos as ‘more pessimistic toward the Iranian government’s prospects.’

Columbia Journalism Review cited Namdar as a contributor to Project 2025, a conservative political manifesto meant as a north star for a second Trump term. 

In Project 2025, Namdar called for reforming or ending USAGM, which funded Voice of America and Radio Free Europe, for spreading ‘anti-US talking points.’ 

She has proven controversial with liberals during her time working in the Trump administration. 

In October, Responsible Statecraft, the mouthpiece of anti-war think tank The Quincy Institute, said that there had been ‘infighting’ after Namdar ‘elevated loyalists and sidelined more experienced diplomats’ during her time at the Middle East bureau, playing ‘a game of promotions and demotions.’

‘If you’re not inside her specific circle, you’re truly left out,’ a source told the website, saying her work had ‘affected morale.’

‘Instead of having experts in leadership positions, people who are either chummy with Mora or have specific ideological viewpoints end up being elevated over people who have done their time and their work in specific areas,’ the source added.

A State Department spokesperson trashed the reports at the time, saying that Namdar has been ‘elevating personnel who have proven that they have the merit, expertise and experience to best implement President Trump’s agenda.’ 

More recently, a State Department spokesperson hit out at mainstream media for their characterizations of Namdar’s business experience. 

‘What a shameful, pathetic, and quite frankly sexist way to describe her career. Assistant Secretary Mora Namdar is an accomplished lawyer, business owner, and government official,’ Tommy Pigott told The Daily Beast. 

‘Americans can be proud that patriotic public servants like her are stepping forward to serve our country and advance our national interests.’ 

Namdar was confirmed by a 53-43 margin in the Senate, with no Democrats supporting her nomination and no Republicans voting against her.