Riley Barnes

At a glance

Riley Barnes is a foreign-policy professional whose career has included Senate communications, State Department policy and religious-freedom work, and strategy work at the Atlantic Council.

Summary sources: [1]

Career and documented accomplishments

• Worked in Senator John Cornyn's office, beginning as an intern in 2008 and returning as a speechwriter in 2015. [1]
• Served in the State Department's Office of Policy Planning in communications and policy roles. [1]
• Was a senior adviser to Ambassador-at-Large Sam Brownback and became deputy assistant secretary in the Bureau of International Organization Affairs in 2020. [1]
• Held an assistant-director role at the Atlantic Council's Brent Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security. [1]

Role and nomination context

• The independently retrieved PN931-1 description identifies his 2026 Peace Corps director nomination. His earlier September 2025 hearing concerned a separate State Department nomination. [3] [2]

Sources and review date

Career and role sources reviewed Oct 14, 2026. These sources may describe developments beyond the nomination snapshot; each nomination entry retains its recorded date and outcome.

1. September 3, 2025 hearing transcript: Cornyn introduction, printed pages 7–8 (PDF)

   Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Reviewed Oct 14, 2026.

2. Opening statement of Riley M. Barnes, September 3, 2025 (PDF)

   Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Reviewed Oct 14, 2026.

3. PN931-1 independently retrieved nomination description

   Library of Congress. Reviewed Oct 14, 2026.