Murphy Statement on Confirmation of Three Critical National Security Nominees, Including U.S. Ambassador to China

Press Release

U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Near East, South Asia, Central Asia and Counterterrorism , on Thursday released the following statement after the Senate voted to confirm the U.S. Ambassador to China and the Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs, as well as the Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom. Earlier on Thursday, Murphy and Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) reached an agreement to pave the way for these confirmation votes.

"It's progress that Republicans finally came to their senses that we need the right personnel in place to carry out our China policy, including the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act. But there's still an absurd number of national security nominees Republicans are blocking just to spite the president. That has to change. Playing politics with our national security is a dangerous game," said Murphy.

On Thursday, Murphy helped pave the way to confirm three State Department nominees that are critical to carrying out sound U.S.-China policy. Republicans in the Senate have been blocking dozens of President Biden's national security nominees for months, holding back progress on key diplomatic concerns and risking national security. Murphy's action today will help the U.S. get back to work on these critical issues. Murphy has been vocal about Senate Republicans' unprecedented efforts to block State Department nominations, calling the obstruction a "growing national security crisis."

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