Senators back off plan to block Cuban Embassy

Senate Republicans appear unlikely to use the funding process to block President Obama’s plan to open a U.S. Embassy in Cuba this month, despite initial vows to prevent the landmark policy change.

A $49 billion funding bill for the State Department and foreign operations that passed through a Senate Appropriations subcommittee was silent on the plan.

{mosads}Efforts to amend it to block the embassy appear politically impossible, subcommittee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) acknowledged, though he opposes the new embassy as much as ever. 

“On the Senate side, I’m not so sure we have all Republicans where I’m at in terms of not establishing an embassy,” Graham, who is running for president, told reporters after the brief subcommittee markup. “I don’t know if the votes are there on our side, quite frankly.”

Despite the heated opposition to Obama’s plans from Graham and other prominent Republicans such as Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.), another presidential hopeful, many conservatives have been more receptive of the change in posture. 

Sens. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), White House candidate Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and others have welcomed the thaw in U.S.-Cuban relations.

The GOP opposition appeared to be in trouble last week when the White House announced it planned to open the embassy in Cuba. The Cuban government said a U.S. Embassy in Havana and Cuban Embassy in Washington would both open their doors on July 20.

Still, Graham’s crusade is not necessarily dead.

He is going to seek to add an amendment when the bill reaches the full committee later this week, he told reporters, though it is unclear whether he has the support for it to stick.

“The one thing I’ve anticipated all my career is make sure I’ve got the votes,” he said. “So I’m going to offer it tomorrow and whether or not we vote on it will be dependent on how the vote count goes.”

Unlike the Senate, House legislation to fund the State Department would block the creation of the embassy, which could be a stumbling block for the administration.

A new ambassador to Cuba would also need to be confirmed by the Senate, which could be another hurdle.

“It’s just a matter of where the votes are at, and the House has good language, which I support,” Graham said. “So this thing is not over yet.”

The Senate appropriations bill provides $49 billion in emergency and discretionary funding for the State Department and other foreign programs — a $2.8 billion cut from last year and nearly $5 billion below the White House’s request.

It increases money for some programs meant to promote democracy, boosts aid to Jordan and Israel, and provides new money to aid violence-plagued regions of Central America.

It also makes money earmarked for an international climate fund conditional on congressional approval, which irked Democrats, and codifies a policy preventing the government from supporting organizations that promote or perform abortions.