By Andrea Shalal

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – Republican Senator Ted Cruz is holding the U.S. Treasury hostage in his efforts to stop a Russia-to Germany gas pipeline. This blocks critical appointments at a time when federal debt limits remain a pressing matter, according to White House officials, and Democrats in Congress.

According to officials, only four of the 20 slots available for president picks in Treasury are filled by confirmed nominees. Federal data indicates that President Joe Biden’s nominees are now being approved more slowly than those of the three previous presidents.

Cruz’s actions have a negative impact on Treasury’s ability of addressing the federal debt limit. They also hinder the Biden administration from tackling other major problems such as a global minimum income tax and financial intelligence.

Cruz was a single holdout in a fast-track process to confirm noncontroversial nominees. This requires the consent of all 100 senators. The White House claims that this description fits most Treasury picks, as well as many ambassadors.

Cruz asks Biden for sanctions to stop Russia’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline.

Biden has stated that he did not oppose the pipeline and waived sanctions as the project was near completion. He also wanted to restore strained relations with Germany, which is a key ally of the United States.

Cruz’s spokesperson said that Cruz will lift the sanctions if the Biden Administration sanctioned the company involved in the project. This is something Cruz insists is necessary under U.S. Law.

Cruz stated in Sept. 13 that failure to do so would hand Vladimir Putin a geostrategic win and cause “entrenches corruption Russian influence in Europe”.

Although the Senate can proceed with the confirmations without holding floor vote, which is time-consuming and requires approval by 60 senators. Experts warn that this could limit Senate’s time for other matters, such as efforts to pass an infrastructure bill or spending bill.

Some Treasury nominees are still waiting to be tapped as undersecretaries for terrorism, financial intelligence and terrorism. The United States is currently dealing with the Taliban invasion of Afghanistan.

Jonathan Davidson was nominated to be assistant secretary in legislative affairs and Ben Harris as assistant secretary for economic policy. They are acting as advisors to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Deputy Secretary Wally Adeyemo, in the interim. However, they are limited in their ability.

If confirmed, Davidson could play a major role in building support to a longer-term increase of the $28.4 Trillion U.S. Debt Limit and a global Minimum Tax. According to federal guidelines, Davidson cannot “outward-facing activities” in his current position as counselor. This means that he can’t visit Capitol Hill or make phone calls to lawmakers, something some members of Congress claim was an obstacle during recent debt negotiations.

One official said that while an agreement was made to temporarily raise the debt ceiling on Thursday, it is not clear that Yellen will have a larger team to handle the problem when it rises again in the coming weeks.

Officials claim that Cruz has not released his grip despite Adeyemo and Yellen’s personal efforts. They are refusing to give up, so they don’t see a solution.

Ron Wyden of the Senate Finance Committee stated that Jonathan Davidson enjoys widespread support because he is a veteran Senate staffer and was needed to help Congress with many issues with Treasury Department. He specifically cited the federal debt limit. “Senator Cruz just… makes it harder to run the federal government efficiently.”

Cruz’s spokesperson did not respond to Wyden’s remarks, but stated that the senator will use all of his leverage as a senator in order to get President Biden to impose mandatory sanctions on Nord Stream 2.

Cruz has previously released a few nominees that he claimed were “cleaning up foreign policy” “messes” created by the Biden government. He isn’t blocking Graham (NYSE) Steele’s nomination to become assistant secretary for financial institutions, according to a spokesman.

According to federal data, as of Thursday, 191 Biden nominations had been confirmed by the U.S. Senate, which is about 36%. That compares with 42% for Donald Trump, 42% for Barack Obama and 65% respectively, Federal Data shows.

CRUZ MEETINGS

According to Reuters, Adeyemo and Yellen have been in touch with Republican senators over the past weeks to try to convince Cruz to release his hold. Official added that Treasury officials had also requested appeals from Cruz to other senators, such as Republicans Mike Crapo or Cynthia Lummis. Both declined.

Adeyemo visited Cruz’s office and gave Senator Pat Toomey and Cruz classified briefings in person on Nord Stream 2.

Wally and the secretary spoke to Cruz several times. We have reached out to the staff. “We’ve tried everything,” the top official said, noting that it was becoming increasingly difficult for the administration to change its mind.

Treasury spokesman John Rizzo said it was “essential” that the Senate confirm the nominees, calling them “critical” to the department’s work to deal with the debt limit and “achieve national security objectives of disrupting illicit finance and combating terrorism.”