Most Biden Ambassadorial Picks Stranded In Senate

“President Biden — who has made renewed international engagement a hallmark of his foreign policy ethos — is headed to a pair of global summits in Europe this week with just a handful of his ambassadors in place, as most of his picks to represent the United States abroad remain mired in messy domestic politics,” the Washington Post reports.

“To date, only four of Biden’s choices to be a U.S. ambassador to a foreign government have been approved by the Senate — three of them just on Tuesday. That means Biden is lagging considerably behind his immediate predecessor, Donald Trump, who at this point in his presidency had 22 such U.S. ambassadors confirmed, 17 of them by voice vote.”

“The delays stem from threats by some Republican senators, led by Ted Cruz (R-TX), who has been angling for a fight with the Biden administration over matters of national security.”