Afghanistan crisis: Sen. Chris Murphy criticizes Ted Cruz for hold on State Dept. nominees

Republicans are mostly those who have been critical of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, especially with US President Joe Biden taking the most criticism for still defending his decision to pull out the US troops. Democratic Senator Chris Murphy has also pinned the blame on the crisis going on in the region on GOP Senator Ted Cruz due to his hold on State Department nominees.

Democratic Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy blasted Cruz recently, saying that the Texas lawmaker also shares some of the responsibility for the controversial withdrawal of the US from the region. Murphy cited that Cruz put on hold the nominees for important positions in the State Department over a partisan political policy.

A week prior, Murphy was on the Senate floor, criticizing Cruz over the hold he has placed on the State Department nominees. “If every single senator did that -- because every senator here has a policy disagreement that they believe is significant, with the Secretary of State, with the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, with the Secretary of Defense -- then the business of nominations and confirmations would grind to an absolute halt in this body,” warned Murphy.

“We’re talking about dozens of key national security posts that are left vacant, because of the decision of one senator,” Murphy added.

To note, back in July, six months since Biden took office in January, only six State Department nominees were confirmed by the Senate. Around 60 nominees are still pending confirmation. The Texas Senator put a hold on the nominees unless their Democratic counterparts overcome the filibuster for every nomination.

According to CNN, Cruz is looking to pressure the Biden administration into a certain aspect of the foreign policy regarding Russia. However, other Republicans have said that the effort is futile.

Meanwhile, there has been some debate as to how the media outlets have been framing the situation in Afghanistan as the US and other allies continue to evacuate thousands of Afghans from the war-torn nation. Former White House adviser for George W. Bush, Matthew Dowd, and columnist Amanda Marcotte criticized the media coverage of the situation as being “over the top.”

Speaking with CNN’s Brian Stelter on Sunday, Dowd said the coverage no longer had any perspective on the issue that was present in the early days of the withdrawal. Dowd added that the former president is the one who should face the most criticism regarding the withdrawal, as Bush waged war in Afghanistan following the 9/11 attacks. The conflict continued in the succeeding administrations.