Now her candidacy will be put to the vote in the full Senate.
On Thursday, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee endorsed President Joe Biden’s nomination for the post of Permanent Representative of the United States to the United Nations. Now the candidacy of the experienced diplomat Linda Thomas-Greenfield must be approved by the full Senate.
The Committee supported her nomination by a vote of 18 to 4.
It is unclear when Thomas-Greenfield’s nomination will be put to the vote in the full Senate, which is currently busy debating an economic aid package. It is due to begin impeachment proceedings against former President Donald Trump next week.
One day, the committee vote was delayed over the objections of Republican Senator Ted Cruz, who expressed concern that in 2019, Thomas-Greenfield spoke at the Confucius Institute, a center funded by the Chinese government.
Leading Democrats and Republicans on the committee said Thomas-Greenfield’s years of diplomatic experience outweighed the significance of any single speech.
“I do not doubt that Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield is well aware of the challenges we face from the Chinese government,” said Democratic Senator Bob Menendez, who recently took over as chairman of the committee.
“I’m not prepared to let one speech define a person’s entire career,” said Jim Risch, the highest-ranking Republican on the committee, who voted in favor of Thomas-Greenfield. – She has an impeccable reputation. She’s a good person – maybe too good.”
