Hopefully something else will work out or she'll find the passport, but it might not hurt for her to contact her congressional representative to explain what's going on. I participated in the TripAdvisor discussion linked below when we were trying to get a new passport last year, and several people mentioned that being helpful. In most cases, this was in situations where a passport application was already submitted and just delayed, but there may be something that can be done here. I never would have considered it, and it seems like there are staff members that deal specifically with passport-type issues.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTop..._renewal_processing_time-Air_Travel.html