WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate has confirmed President Barack Obama's nomination for U.S. ambassador to Russia, but not before a Republican senator blocked the appointment and several others.

Republican Sen. Mike Enzi of Wyoming has been unhappy with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's decision last year to limit filibusters for most presidential nominations.

When the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, Democrat Bob Menendez of New Jersey, tried to gain approval of several diplomats in a single vote late Thursday, Enzi objected. That put off all those nominations just as the Senate prepared for its August recess.

A short time later, the Senate took up the nomination of John Tefft for ambassador to Russia and confirmed him by voice vote.

Ambassadors for Turkey, Guatemala and other nations remain in limbo.

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