Joseph Cella

Joseph James Cella is the U.S. Ambassador to Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Tonga and Tuvalu (sworn in in November 2019 as a political appointee). He was confirmed in September 2019 and sworn in to office on November 25, 2019.

Personal life

Cella was raised in Richmond, Michigan and graduated from Hillsdale College in 1991. He lives in Augusta Charter Township, Michigan outside of Ann Arbor with his wife Kristen Renee (Hemker) and their seven children.

Starting in 2010, Cella served as principal of a consulting firm, the Pontifex Group was a co-founder of the Catholic advocacy organization Catholic Vote. Cella founded the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast in 2004.

Political life

Cella was a staff member in the Capital Hill office of Michigan Representative Thaddeus McCotter before becoming a senior adviser to the House Republican Steering Committee and Republican Policy Committee.

Even though Cella led the Trump campaign's Catholic advisory council during the 2016 election, Cella has not always supported Trump. He was one of several Catholic leaders to sign onto an open letter in March 2016 opposing his candidacy for the Republican nomination for president. They “called Trump ‘manifestly unfit to be president of the United States,’ citing his “vulgarity,’ his appeals to racial and ethnic fears, and questioning his commitment to ending abortion.” He later went on record saying he had “a sincere change of heart and mind” when Trump said he would appoint anti-abortion judges in the mold of Antonin Scalia.