She is a career member of the
Senior Foreign Service, class of Minister-Counselor. She had served as deputy principal officer at the
United States Consulate General in Jerusalem, as director of the Office of Assistance for Asia and the Near East in the
Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, and as a Pearson fellow with the
Senate Foreign Relations Committee. She was also the political/economic counselor at the United States Embassy in
Tunis,
Tunisia, a political officer at the
United States Embassy in Tel Aviv, Israel, a director for democracy and human rights at the National Security Council, and a special assistant to the special envoy for war crimes Issues in the
United States Department of State.
United States ambassador to Lebanon On October 11, 2019, President
Donald Trump announced his intent to nominate Shea to be the next United States ambassador to Lebanon. On October 17, 2019, her nomination was sent to the
United States Senate. On December 17, 2019, a hearing was held on her nomination before the
Senate Foreign Relations Committee. On January 15, 2020, her nomination was reported out of committee. On February 11, 2020, her nomination was unanimously confirmed by
voice vote. She presented her credentials to President
Michel Aoun on March 11, 2020.
Media ban Within a few months after assuming her ambassadorship in Lebanon, Shea vocally criticized
Hezbollah, a militant group and political organization in Lebanon which is
labelled a terrorist organization by the United States and several other countries. Shea accused Hezbollah of interfering in attempts to improve Lebanon's devastated economy and of draining billions of dollars in funds from the Lebanese government. She also criticized a speech by Hezbollah's leader
Hassan Nasrallah blaming the United States for the economic crisis. In June 2020, following her remarks, Lebanese jurist
Mohammad Mazeh accused her of violating the
Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. He said that her comments interfered in Lebanon's internal affairs, "offended many Lebanese," and increased sectarian tensions. Mazeh passed an order preventing her from making any public statement, as well as forbidding any local or foreign media outlet working in Lebanon from conducting interviews with her or on pain of a $200,000 fine. However, the decision was not implemented, and Mazeh was called to appear before the Judicial Inspection Board. He refused and submitted his resignation. Justice Minister
Marie-Claude Najm accepted it on 14 July.
Deputy UN Representative On January 3, 2023, President Joe Biden nominated Shea to be deputy representative of the United States of America to the United Nations, with the rank and status of ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary, and deputy representative of the United States of America in the Security Council of the United Nations as well as representative of the United States of America to the sessions of the General Assembly of the United Nations. Hearings on her nomination were held before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on June 21, 2023. Her nomination was favorably reported by the committee on July 13, 2023. On August 1, 2024, the Senate voted 59–34 to confirm Shea's nomination. In February 2025, at the direction of the
Trump administration, she urged the United Nations Security Council to support a resolution concerning the war in Ukraine, which did not call
Russia the aggressor in the
Russian invasion of Ukraine or acknowledge
Ukraine’s territorial integrity. It was the first resolution passed in three years on the subject. == Personal life ==