Cruz blocks State Department nominees, increasing the backlog of unconfirmed Biden officials

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Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, blocked the confirmation of dozens of State Department nominees Wednesday morning in an effort to pressure the Biden administration over Russia's Nord Stream 2 pipeline.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez, D-N.J., and Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., tried to get nearly 30 nominations confirmed during the tail-end of an all-night session before the Senate recess, but Cruz blocked every nominee.

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Cruz has been blocking dozens of nominees from the confirmation process in protest of Biden’s sanction reversal on Russia’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline last month.   

"I have made clear to every State Department official, to every State Department nominee, that I will place holds on these nominees unless and until the Biden administration follows the law and stops this pipeline and imposes the sanctions," Cruz said Wednesday morning.

A spokesperson for Cruz's office previously told Fox News that the senator "will use all leverage and prerogatives he has as a U.S. senator to get the Biden administration to follow the law and implement congressional mandates to sanction and stop completion of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline." 

"That includes holding State Department nominations that the Biden administration and Senate Democrats have advanced to the confirmation stage."

The news comes as President Biden currently has the worst record for the number of confirmed appointees in recent history and has not seen a single ambassador installed eight months into his presidency.

The office of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., last week pointed to Cruz as the contributing factor.

"Sen. Cruz has a hold on all State Department [nominees]," a spokesperson for Schumer told Fox News over the weekend.

The White House said Cruz’s move has jeopardized the security of the U.S. by "undermining the State Department."

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"Many of these nominees have nothing to do with his stated concerns," a White House spokesperson said.

The White House told Fox News it is "engaging" with both Democrats and Republicans in Congress to push the president’s nominees forward.