A State Department official informed AWN that on Monday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken will encourage the Senate to swiftly forward the dozens of State Department candidates who remain waiting owing to holds placed on them by Republican senators.
In the midst of a bitter dispute over the yearly military spending budget and Republican obstruction of important national security postings across many agencies, Blinken has been pushing for the candidates to move through.
An official from the State Department stated that there are presently 61 nominees for approval by the Senate, including 38 ambassadorial nominees.
On Monday, Blinken will address the media to emphasise how the holds “are hurting national security,” and on Tuesday, the top US diplomat will write to the Senate “asking for them to move forward with State Department nominees with alacrity.”
Only three of the 38 ambassadorial nominations awaiting a floor vote are not career foreign service officers, and the State Department source stated that “some have been waiting over 18 months for confirmation.”
For the first time in history, no U.S. ambassador will be confirmed for the countries of Egypt, Israel, Jordan, or Lebanon this summer, and we still don’t have one for the African Union, the United Arab Emirates, Rwanda, Somalia, or Haiti.
Rand Paul, a Republican from Kentucky, has put a stop on all State Department nominations until further information about the history of Covid-19 is provided to him. In early June, Paul placed a hold on the release of Covid-19 research records held by the United States government, stating suspicions that these programmes were linked to the outbreak.
Paul’s spokesman said that the committee would only return to expedited procedure if the chairman signed document requests with Paul. “Dr. Paul is simply trying to access Covid-19 documents held by various government agencies that are under the jurisdiction of the foreign relations committee,” the spokesman said.
To AWN, State Department spokesman Matt Miller said, “We have cooperated extensively with Senator Paul by providing him documents and other information, but he continues to block all State Department nominees, the vast majority of whom are foreign services officers, from filling critical national security posts.”
Miller argued that the United States is being harmed because “when we don’t have an ambassador in place, our adversaries fill the void,” and that Senator Rand Paul is delaying the confirmation of qualified nominees.
Ohio Republican Sen. J.D. Vance is a roadblock to field operations for the diplomatic corps since he has blocked all appointments for the Justice Department save for US marshals.
Concerned that she has advocated a “woke” worldview rather than pushing ahead America’s national interests, Vance has put a hold on other appointments to positions in the State Department, including the nominee to serve as the Representative to the African Union.
We have developed an international policy based on lecturing and teaching only countries that have no interest in cooperating with us. Speaking on the Senate floor in April, Vance explained his opposition to her nomination by saying, “The Chinese have a foreign policy of building roads and bridges and feeding poor people.”
His office does not disclose the number of holds he has or the rationale for any of them.
Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s hold at the Defence Department over his opposition to the department’s reproductive policies has affected hundreds of senior military officers, including high-profile roles like the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the commandant of the Marine Corps.
Because of the holds, confirming a nominee now takes far more time than before, forcing the Democratic leadership in the Senate to waste valuable floor time.
The State Department official noted that “in previous administrations, most career, nonpartisan nominees would receive agreement to advance via unanimous consent within short order,” but that this has not been the case in the current Congress. Only five State Department nominees have been confirmed.
The person explained that this meant career public servants could be confirmed and then quickly travel to embassies to carry out U.S. foreign policy on behalf of the American people.
At an early June business meeting of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Republican Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky accused Democratic Chairman Sen. Bob Menendez of withholding the requested material, demonstrating the bipartisan nature of the displeasure over Paul’s hold.
Compared to the United States, China has more diplomatic representation around the world in the form of embassies, consulates, and ambassadors. That can’t be tolerated. I’m sure we can improve greatly. So, I hope we can enthusiastically pursue other nominations promptly,” Menendez remarked, as reported by the transcript of the meeting.
Republican Senator Mitt Romney remarked, “These holds on ambassadors and the time that we all take to confirm ambassadors is very harmful to our country,” and he urged Democratic Senator Bob Menendez to “just give him the data, for Pete’s sake.”
“My goodness, the president has been president for some years, alright, and we cannot get – we need ambassadors,” Romney added. We still need ambassadors, flaws and all. Let’s get them passed, and if there are any holds, I think they should be resolved quickly so we can vote on them. The Senate simply cannot hold individual votes on each nominee for ambassadorships.
In a statement, the American Foreign Service Association, the union for foreign service officers, said that it “believes it is essential to have confirmed ambassadors at all of our embassies and confirmed senior officials in all of our agencies.”
It is our sincere desire that all career nominees be promptly advanced. The statement emphasised how much their contribution and expertise are needed by the country.
