WASHINGTON — As diplomatic crises go, the latest doings in the Senate fell somewhat short of Iran’s capture of wayward American sailors or North Korea’s fourth nuclear test. But on Friday morning, an embarrassing stain on the nation was erased. After 869 days, Norway finally has an ambassador.  Also approved quietly was the nominee to Sweden, who had been waiting for nearly 500 days. Both nominees were stalled for the same reason: Senator Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas and a leading White House contender, wanted to make some points.  Senators in both parties often put “holds” on nominations, sometimes because they loathe the nominee, but just as often to press for other policy goals.  In this case, it was really nothing personal. Mr. Cruz first declared he would stop all nominees for State Department posts unless President Obama promised to block any United Nations Security Council resolution approving the Iranian nuclear deal, which the president would never do. As the Security Council approved it in July, Mr. Cruz pivoted to his desire to rename a street in front of the Chinese Embassy here after a dissident, Liu Xiaobo, a human-rights activist imprisoned in China.  Senator Amy Klobuchar, Democrat of Minnesota, which has a large community with Scandinavian heritage, went to the Senate floor several times to rail about this affront to the nominee for Norway, Sam Heins, a fellow Minnesotan.  “Perhaps people don’t understand the importance of these nations because they just think these people wear sweaters all the time,” she said. “I don’t know what they think of Norway and Sweden, but, in fact, Senator Cruz should understand that they are two of our best allies.”  She and her colleagues have tried to get these and scores of other nominations approved this fall, a normally seamless process if no other lawmaker comes forward to object.  But this is the Senate and this is an election year, so the only thing that happens easily is a resolution supporting the goals and ideals of Career and Technical Education Month. Nearly 150 judicial, national security and other Obama administration nominees are still languishing in the Senate.  “In most cases they are being held up by just one member of this body,” Senator Jeanne Shaheen, Democrat of New Hampshire, said this week, referring to State Department nominee holds, adding, “a member of this body who is out on the campaign trail.”  This week, staff members worked to resolve the issue and on Friday morning, in a fairly unusual move, Senator Mitch McConnell — who had aided Mr. Cruz in blocking nominations previously — moved to confirm a cluster of State Department nominations on the floor with no one around to really object. And Mr. Cruz got his street-naming wish, which now must be approved by the House. If the bill is approved, Mr. Obama’s advisers said the president would probably veto it. Given that Mr. Cruz is so busy running for president and rarely in Washington, Senator Mike Lee, Republican of Utah, and Mr. McConnell, Republican of Kentucky and the majority leader, had formed a sort of babysitters club for him, objecting on the candidate’s behalf on the Senate floor.  Not that Mr. Lee or Mr. McConnell had a personal objection to these nominees. Mr. Lee is more or less the only member of the Senate willing to do a personal favor for Mr. Cruz. He has extended the same courtesy to Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, another presidential candidate, by blocking Mr. Obama’s ambassador to Mexico, Roberta Jacobson, over her role in negotiations to restore diplomatic relations with Cuba.  “We’re the ones staying home,” said Conn Carroll, a spokesman for Mr. Lee, cheerfully.  When Mr. Lee is otherwise occupied, Mr. McConnell — whom Mr. Cruz recently called a liar on the Senate floor — has filled the objection void. That is what leaders have to do sometimes, much like soccer coaches who feel obligated to play the kid who always kicks the ball to the other team.  To be fair, Mr. Cruz cannot be blamed fully for Norway’s diplomatic travails. Mr. Obama’s previous nominee, George Tsunis, a major campaign donor, basically blew it when he appeared before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and referred to Norway’s prime minister as “president” and also conceded that he had never been to Norway. Mr. Heins was nominated 276 days ago.  As such, there was angst among the nearly five million Americans who claim Norwegian ancestry, which, according to State Department figures, is almost equal to Norway’s current population.  “Outstanding!” Jon Pederson, the chairman of the board of Norway House in Minneapolis, said Friday when told that an ambassador to Norway had been approved. “They will be pleased to have leadership over there again. There are a lot of duties that ambassadors over there have to do.” Asked to name the most pressing matters of American interest in Norway at present, Mr. Pederson conceded, “I’m not aware of any.”  Ms. Klobuchar said otherwise, noting that Sweden and Norway are large investors in the United States. “Norway just purchased 22 fighter planes from Lockheed, valued at up to $200 million apiece,” she said, noting that the planes were made in Fort Worth. “Can you imagine any other senator holding up an ambassador to a country that just made such a purchase from a company in their state? No way.”  Azita Raji, a Wall Street executive and an Iranian-American, who was approved unanimously by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last summer as ambassador to Sweden, also got the nod Friday.  Sweden, one of the first countries to recognize American independence, is the 11th largest investor in the United States, one of the largest per capita, according to the State Department, and also has played a critical role in accepting Syrian refugees.  On Friday, Ms. Klobuchar sounded a more diplomatic note. Also, a notably provincial one.  “Minnesota is home to more people of Norwegian heritage than anywhere except Norway itself, so it is only fitting that the new ambassador hails from our state,” she said. “We also have more than our fair share of Swedes and others of Scandinavian descent. I have no doubt that Sam and Azita will serve our country well.”
Senate stand-ins for Mr. Cruz, who had been blocking the nominees for ambassador, gave the presidential contender what he wanted and ended a long impasse.