President Biden’s promise to return the United States to the world stage is being delayed – at least a few days – in the Senate, where his candidate for secretary of state, Anthony Blink
Anthony BlinkenStat Dept. will review Trump administrator’s decision to label Houth as terrorist organization Night Defense: Austin takes the helm at Pentagon | COVID-19 informative part of the first day’s agenda | Outrage over images of National Guard troops in the Senate garage confirms Austin will lead the Pentagon under Biden MORE, is in a confirmation limbo.
Some Senate Democrats have criticized the delay, arguing that the Senate should have already voted for its confirmation.
“The Secretary of State is the fourth in line of succession. Leaving that position vacant is irresponsible, ”the senator said. Robert Menéndez
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The White House on Friday seemed to downplay the delay while thanking the Senate for confirming Biden’s election to the Pentagon.
“I know our Secretary of State is about to be confirmed, or that is the senator. [Mitch] McConnell [R-Ky.] she tells us, “White House press secretary Jen Psaki
Jen PsakiBiden, under pressure to produce more COVID-19 shots. Biden and Trudeau agree to meet next month. Democrats are seeking answers to the impact of the Russian cyberattack on the Justice Department dit.
It’s been a chaotic week in the Senate, where power shifted Wednesday when three new Democratic senators were sworn in, including the two who won elections in Georgia earlier this month, along with Vice President Harris.
Harris will cast the 50-50 Senate tiebreaker vote, giving the Democrats a majority.
But Democrats and Republicans have disagreed over the rules for organizing the Senate, meaning Republicans still have a majority on some committees.
Battles for the election also contributed to a slow pace in the nominations.
The Senate confirmed the election of Biden as its director of national intelligence, April Haines
April Haines: Biden DHS, Intel Recognizes Need to Prioritize Cybersecurity After SolarWinds Hack Biden Intel Chief Candidate Avril Haines Promises Public Report on QAnon Threat Former Trump Intelligence Chief Presents Haines, the Biden candidate, on hearing MORE, Thursday. On Friday, the Secretary of Defense confirmed Lloyd Austin
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Blinken could be confirmed early next week and Sen. James Risch (R-Idaho) said there should be a strong bipartisan interest in confirming it.
Monday is the first time a confirmation vote can take place, according to a Republican Senate aide, who said Risch is working to get the unanimous consent of members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to allow it to take place. the confirmation vote.
If unanimous consent is not reached, the full committee would vote Monday evening on whether to send Blinken’s confirmation to the Senate floor to vote.
Another reason Blinken’s candidacy has been delayed is that committee members are working to review their answers to at least 780 questions submitted by lawmakers. Blinken also participated in a nearly five-hour hearing on Tuesday.
In comparison, 550 written questions were sent to the above President Trump
Donald Trump McCarthy says he told Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene he disagreed with his dismissal articles against Biden Biden, and Trudeau agrees to meet next month Trump planned to dismiss the AG action to cancel Georgia’s election results: MORE reportthe last secretary of state, Mike Pompeo
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Secretaries of State John Kerry
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The Republican aide defended the number of questions.
“The president doesn’t like to ask questions just to ask questions, they were all background, at least the questions we sent,” the aide said.
The aide added that the committee is ready to advance Blinken’s candidacy faster than Tillerson’s. He was confirmed nearly three weeks after his marathon hearing before the committee.
“Risch supports unprecedented actions, including one [unanimous consent] an agreement that would exceed the regular order of the committee, “the Republican aide said of Blinken’s confirmation.
In the absence of a confirmed secretary, the State Department is headed by the director of the Institute of Foreign Services, Daniel Smith.
James Dobbins, a senior member of the RAND Corporation who has been deputy secretary of state in Europe, said the delay in Blinken’s confirmation is not “extraordinary at this time, but if it lasted a few more days, it would become unusual.” “.
“The Secretary of State is the face of American diplomacy and the person to whom the people responsible for diplomacy in other countries turn,” he said.
“I think it is delaying the normalization of relations between the United States and its allies. It can also delay treatment, probably not of the most urgent problems, but also urgent problems with adversaries and other countries, ”he added.
Foreign diplomats are eager to contact Blinken, the Biden administration and its senior staff, after months of a strict policy of no contact between the transition team and foreign governments.
“Obviously, there is a bit of excitement in the capitals and people who want to talk to people, and that is still slow,” said a European diplomat, who asked to remain anonymous to speak sincerely.
“It’s what it is: it’s a few more days, after a couple of months of not being able to collaborate with the president of the United States team.”
Despite not having his full team in place, Biden is moving forward to signing a stack of executive orders that include reversing the Trump administration’s foreign policy actions.
This includes joining the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Paris Climate Agreement, steps well received by US allies.
“WHO is a family of nations and we are all happy that the United States stays in the family,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the World Health Organization. he said during the first meeting with Anthony Fauci
Anthony FauciNightcare – Fauci: Lack of Facts ‘Probably’ Costed Life in Fighting Coronavirus | CDC changes COVID-19 vaccine guidelines to allow infrequent mixing of Pfizer shots, Modern | Senate chaos threatens to slow down Biden Fauci’s agenda enraged by threats to family Poll: Plurality of voters says coronavirus vaccine deployment slower than expected MORE, Biden’s envoy to the WHO.
Biden relies on his national security council to liaise with close US allies for urgent issues related to Russia, North Korea, Iran and China.
Jake Sullivan
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Sullivan also held a call with the secretary general of Japan’s national security secretariat. His conversation focused on the challenges of COVID-19, China and North Korea.
One of the most pressing issues Blinken is expected to address if confirmed is working with Congress to extend the New START nuclear treaty with Russia. It expires on February 5th.
The treaty imposes limits on each country’s nuclear weapons arsenal and allows both parties to conduct inspections to verify compliance.
White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters Thursday that the president wants to extend the treaty for five years, an announcement that welcomed Russia.
Blinken, in his confirmation hearing, pointed to the treaty as one of the first work orders to come to the Senate to work on enlargement.
“What I can tell you is that I know we will come to you very quickly, almost immediately, to discuss it,” he said.