Congress Stalling Trump Ambassadors, Harming U.S. Effort to Combat N. Korea, Conduct Diplomacy

Sources: U.S. diplomatic efforts handicapped by congressional holdup

Trump administration insiders are becoming increasingly concerned that a congressional holdup of key ambassador posts is beginning to interfere with critical American foreign policy efforts, particularly those to rally the international community against North Korea and its contested nuclear program, according to Trump administration insiders and congressional officials familiar with the situation.

Amid a global showdown over North Korea's repeated and increasingly dangerous nuclear tests, Republican leaders in the Senate have declined to hold a vote on several of President Donald Trump's picks for U.S. ambassador, most notably Richard Grenell, the former U.S. spokesman at the United Nations who was tapped in September to serve as the next American ambassador to Germany.

With no indication that Congress will move in the near future to confirm Trump's picks, congressional and administration insiders are expressing growing concerns that the holdup is interfering with U.S. attempts to rein in North Korea's nuclear program, according to multiple sources who spoke to the Washington Free Beacon about the situation.

The State Department has been working to pressure Germany and other countries to pull their ambassadors from Pyongyang as part of a larger effort to isolate North Korea from the international community.

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