Senate Democrats blocked the confirmation of Brian Burch, President Donald Trump’s nominee for US ambassador to the Holy See, in a Senate floor vote Tuesday, stalling Burch’s path to confirmation until after the installation of Pope Leo XIV.
Trump nominated Burch, the president of CatholicVote for the role in late December and he cleared the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on a party-line vote earlier this month. As the Inauguration of Pope Leo XIV’s Petrine Ministry is set for this weekend, Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) asked the Democrats to agree to a unanimous consent vote so that Burch could be confirmed in time to attend the installation of the first American pope in the history of the Catholic Church.
But Democrats spitefully blocked the motion.
Enraged, Schmitt blasted the Democrats on the Senate floor, accusing them of obstructing a qualified nominee mainly out of hatred for Trump.
“Not only is the Senate broken through this process—this ruse—the Democrats are broken,” he complained.
“The truth is, this is really about Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS),” the Missouri Senator declared. “The truth is, this is about Democrats not coming to grips about getting smoked in November because they don’t have a message,” he added.
Schmitt said the blocking of the ambassador amounted to Democrats trying to curry favor with their “resistance” base to see who can be the “chief resistor.”
“I just thought that I would never see a day when the ‘resistance’ would mean holding up the ambassador to the Holy See to be there for the Installation of the Pope, but here we are—total brokenness from the other side” he lamented.
The senator also warned that the Democrats’ obstruction will have real diplomatic consequences when he misses the upcoming liturgical celebrations at the Vatican.
Schmitt, a Catholic himself, noted that the ambassadorship will bring new opportunities for US-Vatican diplomacy in a press release following the disappointing vote.
“With the election of Pope Leo XIV last week, the first American born pope in the history of the Catholic Church, we have a unique opportunity to help develop relationships with the Vatican like never before,” the Senator stated. “Deepening the faith of Americans and Catholics across the globe with the election of a new pontiff, Ambassador Burch can help lead U.S. diplomacy to Pope Leo XIV’s new administration. It’s a shame Senate Democrats blocked Mr. Burch’s nomination and are standing in the way of strengthening the United States’ relationship with the Vatican.”