Do not get fooled by the usual BIFF, BAM, POW journalism. The US cannot ”permit” or ”forbid” the construction of the pipe-line, and this was not the way the previous administration framed it, although the journos may have done so.
What was being discussed was how much the German dependency on Russian gas would weaken NATO, and secondly why the USA should assist (with lots of money) Germany in defence against Russia while Germany on the other hand willingly puts itself in a situation where Russia will yield power over her, and also increases Russia’s revenue that can and will be used to increase Russia’s military power.
Those discussions appear to have ended with a silent whimper from the Biden administration.
My personal belief is that NATO is obsolete, and should have been dissolved when the Warsaw Pact dissolved. Russia is not the enemy. I would like to see a new alliance created that INCLUDES Russia, excludes Turkey, and is oriented against the East (China, etc.).
Actually it all called a trade. US empowers China same way by trading with her. US gives China money using which China builds now its 3d air carrier. But if we stop trades then what we are left to intersect is only a war.