Senator Pat Toomey and 11 other Republicans on the Senate Banking Committee are threatening to block two Treasury nominees unless the Biden administration reverses its stance on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline from Russia to Germany and imposes new sanctions on the project, Bloomberg reports.
“The Nord Stream II natural gas pipeline directly harms the national security interests of the United States and our allies and partners,” the letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen begins, according to Bloomberg. “If completed, this project will increase Vladimir Putin’s malign influence over Europe, destabilize Ukraine’s fragile security, and encourage further Russian aggression.”
If the Biden administration does not impose new sanctions against the Nord Stream 2, senators will oppose the new appointments of Brian Nelson and Elizabeth Rosenberg in the Ministry of Finance.