Ted Cruz and the Destructive Sanctions Addiction

Once this practice of putting a hold on all nominees becomes normalized, you can forget about any president being able to conduct effective diplomacy in the future.

Ted Cruz’s obnoxious blockade of State Department nominees continues:

But unless Mr. Cruz backs down, it could be months before Mr. Biden has his picks in capitals like Beijing, Jerusalem, Cairo and Berlin, and in important policymaking positions at the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Cruz has a knack for employing excessive tactics in bad causes. In this case, he is hamstringing U.S. diplomacy everywhere to oppose Biden’s decision not to impose sanctions on a German company and individuals working on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. He is for all intents and purposes holding an entire department of the government hostage unless the president gives in to his demands. Biden would be a fool to yield and reward this sort of destructive behavior.

It’s not surprising that Cruz would harm the country’s interests so that he could indulge in self-promotion, but it is a disgrace all the same. If Biden had imposed the sanctions that Cruz wanted, that would not have halted the pipeline. The only thing sanctions would have accomplished in this case was to damage relations with Germany over a nearly-operational project. Cruz’s tactics are outrageous and unprecedented, and he is using them to advance a truly stupid position.

The U.S. already abuses its financial clout through the overuse of sanctions. Biden’s decision not to impose sanctions for once was a refreshing break from this pattern. Breaking Washington’s sanctions addiction will take a long time and a lot of work, but refusing to sanction an ally for pursuing its own legitimate economic interests is a good first step. Cruz’s stunt in opposition to that decision shows just how strong the sanctions addiction is and how destructive it is.

If the president can’t even refrain from imposing sanctions when he judges it to be in the best interests of the United States, that makes it a virtual certainty that the president cannot follow through on promises to lift sanctions when necessary. After all, what is to stop a clown like Cruz or Hawley from putting a hold on all nominees in the future if Biden concludes an agreement that requires him to lift most or all Trump-era sanctions on Iran? Cruz’s hostage-taking can’t be tolerated or indulged. Once this practice of putting a hold on all nominees becomes normalized, you can forget about any president being able to conduct effective diplomacy in the future.

Cruz may be trying to promote himself ahead of the 2024 presidential election, but he should take a look at what people in Texas think of the job he’s doing right now. According to an August survey, his approval rating in Texas is only 42%, and his disapproval rating stands at 46%. Among independents, disapproval is 50%. He is widely loathed in the Senate, and he isn’t all that popular with the voters, either. He acts as though he has a safe seat, but it may not be as safe as he thinks it is.