Senators Hold Up 43 Biden Diplomatic Nominees as Crises Roil World

The Biden administration has 43 presidential nominees still awaiting confirmation in the Senate as Congress prepares to break for the holidays, a delay that is putting American national security and foreign policy interests in jeopardy around the world, the State Department said on Friday.

Any nominee not confirmed before the Senate ends its session, which is expected as soon as next week, will have to be renominated by the White House next year, leading to further delays. Those awaiting confirmation include Kurt M. Campbell, whom President Biden is trying to appoint as the deputy to Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken.

The blockade of diplomatic nominees has continued as many Republicans in Congress have sought to condition support for Mr. Biden’s foreign policy priorities on winning right-wing policy concessions. Some have shown a willingness to leave holes in the national security and diplomatic staff, even as the Biden administration confronts wars in Ukraine and the Gaza Strip.

A single senator can hold up a nomination, and several G.O.P. senators have put holds on the nominees, similar to what Senator Tommy Tuberville, Republican of Alabama, did for months with at least 425 nominees to Pentagon positions, before senators in his own party rebelled against him.

The State Department said it was dealing with intense hostility among some Republican senators toward career Foreign Service officers.

“Since the beginning of this administration, the State Department has endured a relentless attack on career Foreign Service nominees, in particular,” the department said in a statement. “Unprecedented, unrelated demands and often inaccurate perceptions have permitted adversaries like China and Russia to gain diplomatic ground.”