Blinken blames Sen. Paul for obstructing diplomats’ confirmation, harming national security.
WASHINGTON—The United States’ top diplomat is accusing a Republican senator of obstruction following refusals to confirm dozens of diplomatic appointments.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) has been requesting documents related to COVID-19 for years over concerns that U.S.-funded “gain of function” experiments in Wuhan, China, might have contributed to the creation of the virus.
Mr. Paul effectively put a hold on the confirmation of all State Department nominees in June, making their confirmation dependent on the State Department’s compliance with his demands for more documentation regarding the origins of COVID-19.
Those confirmation delays are unnecessarily creating a national security crisis, according to Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
“These delays are weakening our national security, and they’re weakening our ability to deliver for the American people,” Mr. Blinken said during a July 17 press briefing.
The secretary said that the confirmation of 62 nominees was stalled in the Senate, with 38 actively awaiting confirmation on the floor, 35 of whom are career Foreign Service officers.
That’s a problem, Mr. Blinken said, as several nations will soon be without U.S. ambassadors to pursue American interests abroad.
“That number is going to keep going up… By the end of this summer, we expect Egypt, Israel, Jordan, and Lebanon will all be without confirmed U.S. ambassadors,” he said.
“Stop harming our national security through unjustified delay and unprecedented obstruction,” Mr. Blinken added as a message to Mr. Rand.
State Department Denies It Has COVID Documents
Both Mr. Blinken and State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller claimed that Mr. Paul was withholding diplomatic nominations for reasons unrelated to State Department business and out of the department’s control.
“Senator Paul has a blanket hold on our nominee,” Mr. Blinken said.
“Unfortunately, he continues to block all of our nominees.”
Mr. Miller added that the State Department had provided the records in its possession that had been requested but said most of Mr. Paul’s requests were for documents that are not now and never have been in the Department’s possession.
“We will continue to provide documents that [are] responsive to [Paul’s] requests,” Mr. Miller said, “but he is asking us for documents that are not State Department documents and are documents that we cannot provide because they are not in our possession, but he continues to use that as an excuse to hold up State Department nominees…
“Senator Paul can make legitimate requests for information, but he cannot hold up the nominations of career diplomats who are critical to advancing U.S. interests and national security,” Mr. Blinken added.
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