Cruz puts hold on Biden CIA choice over pipeline

WASHINGTON >> Republican Sen. Ted Cruz put a hold late Friday on President Joe Biden’s pick to lead the Central Intelligence Agency to pressure the administration to put tough sanctions on Russia’s Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline project.

The Senate Intelligence Committee last week backed William Burns, a former ambassador to Russia, by a unanimous vote. Burns has been confirmed by the Senate for five previous jobs over 33 years and is expected to eventually be approved by the full Senate.

The hold is a delaying tactic as the Texas senator pressures the administration to sanction ships and companies helping Russia’s state energy company Gazprom build the $11 billion pipeline to take gas under the Baltic Sea to Europe via Germany.

“I’ll release my hold when the Biden admin meets its legal obligation to report and sanction the ships and companies building (Russia President Vladimir) Putin’s pipeline,” Cruz wrote on Twitter late Friday. The move first was reported by Bloomberg.

After a year’s delay caused by sanctions, Gazprom is racing to finish the pipeline, which analysts expect could happen by September. A second vessel, the Akademik Cherskiy, has joined the construction site off Denmark.

President Joe Biden believes the pipeline is a “bad deal for Europe,” the White House has said.

The pipeline would bypass Ukraine — depriving it of lucrative transit fees — and could undermine its efforts against Russian aggression.