The Senate will vote in January on whether to sanction the company behind the natural gas line from Russia to Germany, complicating the Biden administration's efforts to prevent a Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The new year in Congress will begin with a debate about the Nord Stream 2 project, which the Biden administration is against but has not used all of its powers to stop, for fear of damaging vital relations with Germany.
The $11 billion project was completed in September but is not yet operational. The leaders of Germany's new governing coalition have said they will not allow gas to flow if Russia invades Ukraine.
The Senate deal was reached late Friday night and was a grudging concession by Democrats to Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, who has delayed the confirmation of dozens of President Biden's nominees to protest what he called Mr. Biden's weak opposition to the pipeline. Mr. Cruz and others argue that the second Nord Stream will give Russia control over Europe's energy supplies and potentially cost the Ukrainian government $3 billion in transit fees, while allowing Russia to circumvent it.
Mr. Cruz said that it was a major victory. When the Senate returns, we will have a vote on the Putin sanctions.
It is a vote that the Biden administration wanted to avoid. Mr. Cruz agreed to allow the confirmation of 36 of Mr. Biden's State Department and Treasury Department nominees. The former mayor of Chicago was one of the envoys Mr. Biden picked for Japan, France, Poland, and the European Union.
The Senate could rebuke Mr. Biden if Mr. Cruz holds a vote on the legislation by January 14. Mr. Cruz was angry when the Biden administration did not impose congressional sanctions against the operator of the project.
Biden officials said at the time that the project was almost complete by the time Mr. Biden took office, and that he was almost impossible to stop. White House officials say that the cost of the German government's displeasure with Mr. Putin outweighs any potential loss to him.
The project won't be officially certified and operational for several more months. Jake Sullivan, Mr. Biden's national security adviser, told reporters at the White House last week that the pipeline is not leverage for Putin. It's leverage for the West because if Putin wants to see gas flow through that line, he may not want to invade Ukraine.
Some analysts think that Mr. Putin's designs on Ukrainian territory may be more important than the pipeline.
The deal between Mr. Schumer and Mr. Cruz requires 60 votes for passage of his bill. It is not clear if Nancy Pelosi would take up the measure after the Senate passes it. The Kremlin issued a set of demands that Biden officials called largely unacceptable after the Dec. 7 call between Mr. Biden and Mr. Putin.
Chris Coons, who helped to negotiate the deal with Biden, said he would wait to see the final language before making a decision. A State Department spokesman didn't respond to a request for comment.
Mr. Coons said he met with the new chancellor of Germany. He noted that the German government would not certify the project until 2022.
Mr. Coons said that he would not do it lightly if he were to impose sanctions on Germany.
The Senate confirmed R. Nicholas Burns as the U.S. ambassador to China.
The vote followed a different agreement, this one with Senator Marco Rubio, Republican of Florida, who had blocked Mr. Burns's confirmation. The Senate was supposed to vote on the bill requiring U.S. companies to prove that their goods were not produced with forced labor in China.
The White House said that the Senate confirmed 85 nominees last week, which was 40 more than in the first year of the Trump presidency.
Mr. Cruz's use of delay tactics against State Department and Treasury Department nominees has annoyed Senate Democrats and Biden officials, who use unanimous voice vote to confirm nominees.
Mr. Cruz has said in the past that he would allow more nominees to be confirmed if Congress approved the project.
The White House says that Mr. Biden has nominees that are unconfirmed, including dozens of ambassadors and other State Department officials.
Mr. Coons hoped last week's breakthrough would lead to more confirmations.
Mr. Coons said that the State Department and the United Nations needed a fully staffed senior team. I think that the occasional hold to force a policy discussion has gotten out of hand, and I respect that senators of both parties have the right to use it.
