The Senate confirmation, among the long list of ambassadors, came as the Congress began a five-week summer break.
Cunningham has been serving as deputy ambassador at the US embassy in Kabul since June 2011. Earlier, he was the US0 ambassador to Israel. He also held senior US posts in Hong Kong, NATO and the United Nations.
However, the list did not include Richard Olson, the Ambassador-designate for Pakistan.
The confirmation hearing for the two envoys were held early this week.