United States President Joe Biden’s attempts to fill diplomatic posts overseas are being hampered by a logjam in the Senate ratification process.
As of the beginning of the month, Mr Biden had made 78 Ambassadorial nominations, but just seven of them —- or nine per cent — had been confirmed by the Senate.
Former Presidents, Barack Obama and Donald Trump had 77 per cent and 70 per cent of their Ambassadorial nominees confirmed respectively at this stage.
The inertia has left posts in crucial world capitals unfilled and Mr Biden is yet to even nominate an Ambassador to the United Kingdom.
Former Assistant Secretary of State, Philip Crowley said that 10 months into the Biden Administration, only a fraction of its diplomatic players were in place to engage the world.
“The President has said repeatedly that ‘America is back’, but the lack of Ambassadors in scores of countries undercuts that message,” Mr Crowley (pictured) said.
“Sure, the top priorities essentially are still being addressed, but lots of valuable initiatives get placed on the back burner waiting for Ambassadors to arrive,” he said.
The depleted Diplomatic Corps is a symptom of Washington’s polarised politics and evenly-divided Senate.
Two right-wing Republicans, Ted Cruz of Texas and Josh Hawley of Missouri, have been slowing the process by objecting to the Senate moving forward via unanimous consent.
Senator Cruz is taking a stand because he objects to a pipeline that will carry natural gas from Russia to Germany and wants the Biden Administration to impose sanctions to stop it.
Senator Hawley has demanded that Secretary of State, Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defence, Lloyd Austin resign because of the “botched Afghanistan withdrawal”.
In the past, nominees could be confirmed through a voice vote, a process taking only minutes that could be used so long as no Senators objected.
However, Senators Cruz and Hawley are insisting on a more convoluted and time-consuming process in a Senate that already has an overwhelming to-do list.
Washington, 15 November 2021
