At last minute, N.J. Sen. Bob Menendez blocks 2 agriculture nominees

Dec. 21 (UPI) -- Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., has derailed the confirmation of two Department of Agriculture nominees ahead of the holidays.

The New Jersey senator, who has been accused of taking bribes and working as an agent of a foreign government, on Wednesday afternoon prevented the Senate confirmation of two "fairly non-controversial" nominations, according to Politico. Basil Gooden was nominated for USDA undersecretary of rural development, and Summer Mersinger was renominated for a commissioner role on the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, but Menendez objected just beforehand, leaving senators and aides no time to reorganize before the Senate broke for the holidays.

Gooden and Mersinger now likely will have to wait several months to be confirmed.

A member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Menendez said he blocked the confirmations in protest of the Biden administration's "lack of responsiveness" toward the CHC. The caucus has grown increasingly irritated with Democrats' willingness to negotiate with Republicans on tighter border security in exchange for a foreign aid package for Ukraine and Israel.

Some senators and aides, however, saw the move as retribution against Agriculture Chair Debbie Stabenow, D-M.I., for previously calling for Menendez to resign after he was indicted on federal corruption charges, according to BNN.

The charges alleged Menendez and his wife accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, gold bars and other bribes in exchange for using the senator's position to benefit certain business associations and the Egyptian government. In October, Menendez pleaded not guilty to those charges.

Menendez's spokesperson vehemently denied that the senator's actions were retaliatory toward Stabenow, saying, "It's simply not true."