While the House is at a standstill over the speakership battle, the Senate will take steps this week to address the war between the terrorist organization Hamas and Israel.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is slated to hold a Wednesday confirmation hearing for Jack Lew, President Joe Biden's nominee for U.S. ambassador to Israel. Several Senate Democrats have been aggressively pushing to confirm Lew since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7. At least 4,100 people, including Israelis and Palestinians, have died as of Monday morning.

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Biden nominated Lew in September to become the top diplomat to Israel. If confirmed, he will replace former Ambassador Thomas Nides, who stood down from the post in July. Lew was the director of former President Barack Obama's and former President Bill Clinton's Office of Management and Budget, and he was also Obama's treasury secretary.

Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Ben Cardin (D-MD) said in a post to X (the social media platform previously called Twitter) on Sunday that Israel is "in critical need of a Senate-confirmed U.S. ambassador, and nominee Jack Lew is ready to serve."

"There's no time to waste," Cardin said. "As we return to session tomorrow, it's a high priority to get his nomination advanced quickly."

However, Lew's path to confirmation will not be an easy one, as his appointment is likely to be met with Republican opposition.

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR), who sits on the Senate Armed Forces Committee, blasted Lew during a Sunday interview on Fox News Sunday.

"Jack Lew is an Iran sympathizer who has no business being our ambassador,” Cotton said. “It’s bad for the United States. It’s bad for Israel to have an Iran sympathizer as our ambassador to that country. He helped Iran evade American sanctions, and he lied to Congress about it.”

He criticized the former treasury secretary for Obama's decision to abstain from voting on a 2016 United Nations Security Council resolution that halted Israeli settlements.

“I know Democrats are saying that we need to confirm Jack Lew quickly to show our support for Israel. I would say it’s the exact opposite," Cotton said. "We need to defeat Jack Lew’s nomination to show that we have a new approach to Iran.”

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), who is a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, expressed similar thoughts during a Friday interview on Fox News Business. Rubio said he had "real concerns" that Lew has “lied to Congress in the past about some of the financial arrangements that were made under the Obama administration.”

The alleged lies refer to claims made by GOP senators in a 2018 report that Lew and other Obama administrators lied to Congress about granting Iran access to America's financial system as part of the Iran nuclear deal.

“That’s something that needs to be asked,” Rubio said Friday. “We’ll go through those hearings, we’ll go through that process.”

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), who is blocking the fast-tracking confirmation of multiple Biden nominees to Middle East policy positions, also has concerns about Lew.

"Sen. Cruz has said since the summer that it was becoming impossible to expeditiously advance Biden administration nominees because those nominees keep lying to Congress and the American people, testifying publicly that they are committed to countering Iran and deepening the U.S.-Israel relationship then implementing the opposite policies in secret once confirmed,” a Cruz spokesperson told Politico last week. “He will evaluate Lew’s nomination against the backdrop of those concerns.”

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Lew's confirmation will be under a microscope, particularly after Republicans blasted Biden for unfreezing $6 billion in Iranian funds as part of a prisoner swap on Sept. 11. The White House and the State Department have adamantly rejected the claim that the unfrozen funds would allow Iran to aid Hamas in its attacks against Israel, but GOP lawmakers continue to criticize the president for sending money back to the Iranians.

Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) led GOP senators in sending a letter to Biden last week demanding that his administration freeze the Qatari bank accounts that house the $6 billion. Both Rubio and Cotton signed onto the letter. In the House, over 100 Republicans are backing a bill introduced by Rep. August Pfluger (R-TX) that, if passed, would refreeze the $6 billion in Iranian funds.