There IS something wrong that one US Senator can do this….
(Democrats can get past him eventually)
But it isn’t gonna change….
Politics….
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) expects to be formally delaying up to 40 of President Biden’s nominees by week’s end, but they won’t include former colleagues Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) and Tom Udall (D-N.M.) or Cindy McCain, the widow of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).
Cruz has been stalling Biden picks — chiefly for ambassadorships and some senior State Department postings, but also choices for jobs at the Treasury Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development — for leverage in disputes with the administration over policies toward Russia and the Middle East.
The tactic isn’t new.
But the scale and scope of Cruz’s embargo seems unprecedented: It targets not just political appointees but career diplomats with unrelated briefs, some heading to unglamorous posts, like Larry Edward Andre, Jr., whom Biden nominated as envoy to Somalia and whose nomination reached the floor in June.
Setting aside the policy questions, the Texas Republican benefits politically from taking a high profile-role in GOP opposition to a president deeply unpopular with the party’s base — especially as a potential 2024 contender.
The Senate’s inner workings empower a senator to try to delay a nominee by formally place a “hold” on them — essentially a promise to filibuster — once they get to the floor for a final vote.
Cruz can’t block nominees forever — they can move through the confirmation process by simple majority, which Democrats have…