The White House is frustrated by the Senate's slow pace in confirming President Joe Biden's ambassadorial nominees, press secretary Jen Psaki said on Wednesday.
'What's the holdup?' Psaki said to reporters.
She noted that nearly 275 of Biden's nominees were awaiting confirmation, including many who were 'non-controversial' and had 'a lot of Republican support.'
'We are frustrated over the slow pace of confirmations, particularly for non-controversial nominees,' she said.
Psaki also said Biden had sent more nominees to the Senate at this point than his predecessors Barack Obama and George Bush. That includes a mix of ambassadorial nominations and other senior political positions in the federal government.
'Right now, we have nearly 275 people we've nominated pending confirmation by the Senate - a number of them who have strong Republican support as well,' she noted.
The Senate must approve ambassadors by a simple majority vote after a confirmation process that typically involves a hearing with Senate Foreign Relations Committee and going through a background check.
The Partnership for Public Service, a nonpartisan think tank, said the Senate confirmed 11 nominees on Aug. 11 before adjourning, bringing the total of Biden's nominees confirmed - both ambassadors and other political picks - to 144 of the 442 nominations formally submitted.
The White House is frustrated by the Senate's slow pace in confirming President Joe Biden's ambassadorial nominees, press secretary Jen Psaki
The confirmation process has been slowed by a number of holds placed by Republicans, including Senator Ted Cruz
Before leaving town on Wednesday, the Senate confirmed Ken Salazar, the former interior secretary and senator from Colorado, as U.S. ambassador to Mexico, only the second of Biden's 57 ambassador nominees to be confirmed, in addition to Linda Thomas-Greenfield, Biden's envoy to the United Nations.
By the time of the August recess during Obama's first year in office, the Senate had confirmed 304 of 430 total nominees. Donald Trump had 130 of his 308 nominations confirmed by the same period.
Historically, some ambassadors are career Foreign Service officers in the State Department while others are top donors or longtime political allies, particularly to top ambassadorial destinations like London, Paris, and Tokyo.
Biden, thus far, has named a mix of political and career nominees to serve as America's top envoy abroad.
Psaki defended Biden's nominations of donors and allies, noting that their work in the private sector 'does not mean that they're unqualified.'
'The president has made clear that he supports, advocates for, and will continue to press for the confirmation of career ambassadors, of course. But also that individuals who are in the private sector -- that does not mean that they're unqualified. These are qualified nominees who can be excellent representatives of the United States overseas,' she said.
She declined to offer a percentage for Biden's target number of political appointees.
'I don't have a percentage for you,' she said but added: 'I will note that diversity has been a front-and-center priority for the president, for this administration, and for our personnel department as they look to fill key posts - not just ambassador roles, but roles to serve in high-level positions in agencies.'
While Democrats control the Senate, the confirmation process has been slowed by a number of holds placed by Republicans, including Senator Ted Cruz, to register their frustration over a variety of issues, including the Biden administration's handling of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline being built from Russia to Germany.
Cruz wants sanctions on the pipeline.
'I look forward to lifting the holds just as soon as they impose the sanctions on Nord Stream 2 that are required by federal law,' Cruz told CNN.
But Biden administration officials have said the pipeline was 95% complete by the time they came to office, making sanctions pointless.
Any senator can place a hold on a nominee for any reason. The nominee cannot proceed forward in the confirmation process until the hold is lifted or Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer invokes the long and complicated legislative process to get around the hold.
On Wednesday, the Senate confirmed Ken Salazar, the former interior secretary and senator from Colorado, as U.S. ambassador to Mexico - he is only the second ambassador to be confirmed
Secretary of State Antony Blinken has also raised concerns about the halting approval of foreign service nominees.
'These are critical national security positions,' Blinken said.
'The American people need these services,' he added. 'The American people need these nominees in place.'
Biden was off to a slow start naming his ambassadors but has sped up the announcements in the last few months. The White House typically announces a mix of political and career nominations at the same time.
For example, on Friday, Biden Scott Miller, an LGBTQ rights activist and philanthropist, to be the U.S. ambassador to Switzerland.
Miller and his husband Tim Gill have long been top Biden donors.
Biden also nominated Marc Stanley, a Biden political bundler and Texas attorney, to be the next U.S. ambassador to Argentina.
And he named David Gilmour, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, as ambassador to Equatorial Guinea.