WASHINGTON — State Department special envoys are about to get less special.
President Joe Biden’s administration is rushing to fill posts for special envoys and representatives ahead of a Jan. 3 deadline after which most such candidates will be required to get Senate confirmation. That rule, passed quietly in 2021, closes a loophole that let successive administrations circumvent the lengthy wait time that has plagued ambassadorial nominees.
The loophole had resulted in a proliferation of the envoy jobs, and Congress had grown increasingly frustrated that the administration was relying on special envoys to do work that lawmakers argued should fall under their oversight.
