Disgraceful Senate GOP Blocks Biden Ukraine Relief Nominees After Zelensky Pleads For Help

Last updated on July 18th, 2023 at 01:49 pm

Hours after listening to President Zelensky address them, Senate Republicans blocked Biden’s nominees to lead the Ukraine support effort.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) tried to get unanimous consent on Biden’s nominees but was blocked.

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According to a statement provided to PoliticusUSA by Sen. Menendez’s office:

U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, today took to the Senate Floor to make a series of motions for the Senate to immediately confirm nominees to positions critical to the United States’ efforts to assist and support Ukraine in the face of Putin’s illegal and unprovoked war.

Republican Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) blocked Chairman Menendez’s efforts for the Senate to confirm Jim O’Brien to be Coordinator for Sanctions; Julieta Valls Noyes to be Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration; and Eliot Kang to be Assistant Secretary of State for International Security and Non-Proliferation. These positions have been slow walked by Republicans despite the growing crisis in Europe. Senator Scott’s objection came hours after Ukraine’s President Volodomyr Zelenskyy pleaded for additional support from the United States.

Sen. Scott refused to answer follow-up questions from Menendez about his obstruction of the nominees. Biden’s nominee for a position at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) was then blocked by Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS).

To summarize, Senate Republicans gave Zelensky a standing ovation in the morning but were blocking Biden nominees to lead the Ukraine relief effort by the afternoon.

Republicans claim to support Ukraine but are practicing the same old un-American obstructionism as usual.

Senate Republicans responded to President Zelensky’s pleas for help and videos of children being killed by the Russian invaders by blocking nominees.

Republicans are putting Ukraine and America last, and they don’t deserve to win the Senate majority in November.

Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association