White House pushes GOP to end blockade of ambassador picks

By AAMER MADHANI and KEVIN FREKING
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — As President Joe Biden announces two more ambassador nominees, the White House and Democrats are warning that maneuvering by some Senate Republicans to block all but a small fraction of Biden’s diplomatic and other national security appointees is doing serious harm to U.S. diplomatic efforts around the globe. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has threatened to keep lawmakers, eager to get home before Christmas, in Washington over the weekend and into next week if there isn’t progress made on addressing the backlog of more than 70 ambassadorial nominees awaiting votes. But Biden administration officials acknowledge the president will almost certainly end his year with significantly more ambassadorial vacancies than any of his recent predecessors.