Rubio blocks Mexico ambassador nominee after talk of deal
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) on Tuesday blocked the Senate from moving forward with Obama’s nominee to be ambassador to Mexico.
The Florida senator said he had questions about policies that nominee Roberta Jacobson has “pursued” in her current position as assistant secretary of State for Western Hemisphere affairs.
{mosads}Jacobson has been blocked in the Senate for months, but there had been signs of progress.
Sens. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) and John Cornyn (R-Texas), the Senate’s No. 2 Republican, said earlier on Tuesday they were optimistic there could be movement on Jacobson’s nomination as soon as the afternoon.
“We were talking about that on the floor with Sen. [Marco] Rubio [R-Fla.] and Sen. [Bob] Corker [R-Tenn.] and Sen. [Jeff] Flake [R-Ariz.], and I think they’re continuing to negotiate and I’m hopeful that we’ll have a breakthrough, maybe as early as this afternoon,” Cornyn told The Hill ahead of a weekly policy lunch Tuesday.
However, a spokesman for Rubio said on Tuesday afternoon that the Florida Republican has not lifted his hold.
After Rubio’s objection, Flake said the Senate floor that he plans “to return frequently. …So I expect to be [back] here tomorrow.”
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