On 12/18/2021, Sen. Ted Cruz wrote on Twitter, “Major victory: When the Senate reconvenes, we’ll finally have a vote on sanctioning Putin’s pipeline.” Cruz, Schumer cut Senate deal for vote on new Nord Stream 2 sanctions. The Senate deal has set the stage for a January vote on whether to sanction the company behind a natural gas pipeline from Russia to Germany. The upcoming vote means the new year in Congress will begin in part with a contentious debate about the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project, which the Biden administration has not used all its powers to stop.

Cruz had used the Senate’s arcane rules to place holds on 32 of President Biden’s high-level State and Treasury Department nominees, including several ambassadors, blocking their confirmations for months. His aim was to force a Senate vote on sanctioning the long-disputed Nord Stream 2 pipeline, after Biden waived Trump-era sanctions in May.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, in a marathon Senate session agreed to allow a Senate vote on new Nord Stream 2 sanctions if Cruz would lift his holds. More than 50 of Biden’s stalled nominations sailed through the Senate on voice votes once Cruz and Schumer sealed the deal. The Senate deal was a grudging concession by Democrats to Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, who has delayed the confirmation of dozens of President Biden’s nominees to protest what he called Mr. Biden’s weak opposition to the pipeline. Mr. Cruz and others insist that Nord Stream 2 will provide Russia with a cash infusion and dangerous control over Europe’s energy supplies, while potentially costing Ukraine’s government around $3 billion in annual transit fees from a similar pipeline through its territory that Russia could circumvent.

https://facebook.com/HygoNewsUSA/videos/407877721133036/
Deal With Ted Cruz Sets Stage for Nord Stream 2 Pipeline Fight in Early 2022