{"id":1554,"date":"2026-07-22T18:41:26","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T18:41:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=1554"},"modified":"2026-07-22T18:41:26","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T18:41:26","slug":"cornyn-backs-off-his-threat-to-sink-lake-mastriano-nominations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=1554","title":{"rendered":"Cornyn Backs Off His Threat to Sink Lake, Mastriano Nominations"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Sen. John Cornyn voted on Wednesday to confirm Trump allies Kari Lake and Doug Mastriano as ambassadors to Jamaica and Slovakia, respectively, after threatening to block their nominations over distributions of the President\u2019s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.<\/p>

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The Trump administration had plans to permanently terminate funding for PEPFAR in South Africa, Semafor<\/u><\/span> reported in June. Cornyn, a Texas Republican who lost his reelection bid this year, had said he would vote down both Lake and Mastriano unless he received confirmation that the White House intended to release the funds to Senate Foreign Relations Chair Jim Risch (R-Idaho).<\/p>\n

\u201cThe only way it seems like you can get the administration\u2019s attention on some of these funding issues is by using the leverage to withhold votes on nominees,\u201d Cornyn told Semafor<\/u><\/span> on Tuesday. \u201cWe are going to use the committee vote tomorrow as a way to \u2026 get the money distributed the way Congress appropriated it.\u201d<\/p>

Before Wednesday\u2019s vote, Cornyn told the committee he had received confirmation that the administration planned to release the payments.<\/p>\n

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