“This is the worst it’s ever been,” said Eric Farnsworth, vice president of the Council of the Americas, a former State Department official and diplomat. “It’s been a trend for a long time. In other words, it gets worse with every administration.” …

The latest holdup came in mid-May when Scott placed the “blanket hold” on all the nominees for Latin America and the Caribbean after Biden lifted some restrictions placed on Cuba by former President Donald Trump. The lifted restrictions included some on travel, as well as the amount of remittances that can be sent from the U.S. Scott called the move “an idiotic attempt to return to Obama’s failed appeasement policies.”

In an emailed statement, a spokesperson for the office of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said, “It is unfortunate that Republican obstruction continues to delay these much needed appointments to a number of critical roles, many of whom would help our government respond to recent political transitions in Latin America.”

Scott’s office told NBC News in an emailed statement that “Biden’s appeasement of the illegitimate communist Cuban regime is disgusting. I will hold relevant nominees until it’s reversed.”

But even before Scott’s hold in May, some of the nominees had been waiting for over a year to be confirmed. The Senate has confirmed 143 Senate Foreign Relations Committee nominees, but very few of those confirmed have been from the Western Hemisphere.