Blinken’s Toughest Challenge Might Not Be Coups but Passport Delays

Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken has a crisis on his hands. But unlike the foreign coups, hostage-takings and military threats that the nation’s top diplomat routinely faces, this one comes from within the vast bureaucracy he commands — and may be even more difficult to solve.

The problem is a huge backlog of passport applications that is creating summer travel nightmares for Americans who find that getting a new passport or renewing an expired one can take months, forcing them into panicked races against their planned travel date through an often bewildering bureaucratic maze.

Senator Mark Warner, Democrat of Virginia, has called the situation a “crisis.” Senator Rick Scott, Republican of Florida, has said it is “an unacceptable failure.” And Utah’s entire congressional delegation told Mr. Blinken in a letter this spring that their offices were “struggling to handle all incoming emergency requests due to the sheer volume” of pleas from their constituents.

“While running a competent passport application process may not make a panel at Davos, this is an important function of the federal government that directly affects the lives and plans of millions of Americans,” Senator Eric Schmitt, Republican of Missouri, said in a letter to Mr. Blinken, referring to the elite economic forum held annually in the Swiss Alps.

The State Department, which issues and renews passports for American citizens, has said it is still recovering from disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic, even as it faces record numbers of applications, driven by surging demand from Americans who let their passports lapse over the past few years.

“We’re throwing everything we can at this, trying to make sure that people have those blue books, that they’re able to travel,” Mr. Blinken said at a news conference last month after a question about the delays punctuated his commentary about matters like Russia, Taiwan and ambassadorial nominations.