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Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas, on Wednesday morning blocked confirmation of dozens of State Department candidates in an attempt to pressure the Biden administration over Russia’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline.
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez, DN.J., and Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., Tried to confirm nearly 30 nominations during the end of a sitting of one night before the Senate recess, but Cruz blocked each candidate.
BIDEN SEES WORST RECORD OF CONFIRMED AMBASSADOR NOMINATIONS IN RECENT HISTORY
Cruz has blocked dozens of candidates from the confirmation process to protest the overturning of Biden’s sanction on Russia’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline last month.
“I have made it clear to every State Department official, to every State Department candidate, that I will put those candidates on hold unless and until the Biden administration follows the law and stops this pipeline and impose the sanctions, ”Cruz said Wednesday morning.
A spokesperson for Cruz’s office previously told Fox News that the senator “will use all the leverage and prerogatives he has as a US senator to get the Biden administration to uphold the law and enforce it. implements congressional mandates to sanction and halt the completion of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. ”
“This includes the holding of State Department appointments that the Biden administration and Senate Democrats have advanced at the confirmation stage.”
The news comes as President Biden currently has the worst record for confirmed appointments in recent history and has not seen a single ambassador installed eight months after taking office.
The office of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y., indicated last week that Cruz was the contributing factor.
“Senator Cruz has a grip on all state departments [nominees]a Schumer spokesperson told Fox News over the weekend.
The White House said Cruz’s decision endangered US security by “undermining the State Department.”
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“Many of these candidates have nothing to do with his stated concerns,” a White House spokesman said.
The White House told Fox News it is “engaging” with Democrats and Republicans in Congress to advance the presidential candidates.
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