Senate Foreign Relations Committee questions four Trump nominees on consular operations, NATO ties and Latin America

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee convened July 22 to consider four administration nominees: the president’s pick for undersecretary for management and three ambassadorial nominees to Poland, Belgium and Argentina. Chairman Jim Risch opened the hearing and said the nominees “will be charged with…furthering” core bilateral relationships and with key management responsibilities at the State Department.

The hearing’s central issues included consular operations and passport and visa processing, the State Department’s recent personnel reductions, transatlantic defense spending and NATO burden sharing, and U.S. economic and security competition with China in Latin America.

In his opening statement, Chairman Risch emphasized Belgium’s role as host to the NATO and EU headquarters and pressed the nominees to strengthen alliances and collective security. Ranking Member Jeanne Shaheen flagged consular services as a top constituent concern, saying the Bureau of Consular Affairs “issues passports to Americans” and “processes visas for foreign nationals,” and asked nominees to address backlogs and staffing at the…