No-Show Republicans Are Costing Small Businesses

Senate Republicans are stonewalling Biden nominees for political reasons, according to GOP Sen. Jim Risch- including GOP Sen. Jim Risch.

“Spot the difference at today’s Small Business Committee,” wrote Sen. Mazie Hirono in a caption to the above photo posted to Twitter November 17, 2021. “Left: Dems are ready to get the job done. Right: the ‘pull yourself up by your boot strap’ party didn’t show up for work, again.”

Republican Senator James Risch (R-Idaho) is one of the few Republicans willing to be perfectly honest about why so many Biden nominees are still mired in the confirmation process.

Risch, ranking Republican on the Foreign Affairs Committee, had some sharp words for his fellow Senators Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley on the subject recently.

“I have been a critic of this since I started on the Foreign Relations Committee,” Risch complained at a recent forum, according to Politico. “I was a governor. I understand you have to have a team in place in order to govern.”

“This is a political matter,” Risch admitted baldly, in answer to a direct question about the efforts of Republican Senators to stymie Biden nominees.

“If your criticism is, ‘we need more ambassadors out there,’ I couldn’t agree with you more,” said Risch, likely referring to the huge backlog of nominees for diplomatic posts in Africa.

In spite of the current crisis in Ethiopia and Sudan, not a single ambassador to Africa has been confirmed since Biden took office.