Stuck on 2FA approval

Hello all - I don't believe this is a duplicate issue but if it is feel free to point me in the right direction - I've searched for hours to no avail.

My situation is that I'm having trouble approving all of my devices (2 macbooks and a phone). They are all trusted devices in my account, I know my password, I have my trusted phone number, I can get the verification code. One of my macs is fully logged in.

When I go to sign in to iCloud in my phone or my other computer, I get through the password and device password and then get stuck on "Approve this iPhone / Approve this MacBook Pro". Both just spin forever on "Waiting for Approval".

My only options from that screen are "Cancel" or "Can't Approve". Can't approve doesn't seem great because it seems like it will delete all my data.

In any case, I have access to places that should allow me to approve - it just seems that the messaging is not going through.

Interestingly - when I log into Apple on Safari - I'm immediately prompted on all 3 devices to Approve the browser access and I'm given a 6 digit code.

Why doesn't the same happen from my phone? Why don't I have an option to recover with my recovery phone number? Or use the verification code that I can get from my fully logged in account?