Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey imposed a hold on two Biden administration nominees over his opposition to negotiations on border security, according to Politico.
In the Senate, leaders of both parties have been negotiating a deal to enact border security reforms in exchange for supporting more aid to Ukraine during its war against Russia. Menendez imposed a hold on two Biden administration nominees in protest against the negotiations and amid concerns from Hispanic and Latino groups that Democrats may concede policy to Republicans that they oppose, Politico reported.
“Everything was clear and then at the last minute he objected,” a source told Politico about Menendez’s opposition.
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The nominees Menendez has blocked are Basil Gooden to be the under secretary of agriculture for rural development and Summer Mersinger to be a commissioner of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The nominations, which had been due to be confirmed by a voice vote on the Senate floor amid an absence of opposition, will now be returned to the president at the end of the year under Senate rules and will have to be nominated, again.
Menendez’s spokesperson cited the “lack of responsiveness” from the Biden administration to Congressional Hispanic Caucus members regarding the current state of border security negotiations, Politico reported.
Senate Democrats may be open to expanding the power of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers to remove illegal immigrants from the United States who cross the southern border, as well as prohibit asylum claims from those who enter the country illegally.
Some Senators and aides have said that Menendez’s hold is allegedly not motivated by policy, but as a move against Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, the chairwoman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, Politico reported. Stabenow is among the Democratic senators who have called for Menendez’s resignation from the chamber.
Hispanic groups have been opposing any compromise on the border that increases the likelihood of deportations and that doesn’t include protections for some classes of illegal immigrants already settled in the United States.
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Apart from Menendez, Democratic Sens. Alex Padilla of California and Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico, as well as Democratic Reps. Nanette Barragán of California and Veronica Escobar of Texas, have pressed the administration to resist conservative compromises, ABC News reported.
“To think that concessions are going to be made without benefiting a single Dreamer, a single farm worker, a single undocumented essential worker is unconscionable,” Padilla said.
Several Senate Democratic Caucus members have called on Menendez to resign from office after his indictment on federal corruption charges on Sept. 22, including the junior senator from New Jersey, Cory Booker.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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