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The Senate adjourned Saturday night for its monthlong August recess without a deal to confirm dozens of President Donald Trump’s nominees, capping off days of tense negotiations and partisan finger-pointing — and an explosive Truth Social post from Trump telling Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer to “GO TO HELL.”
The impasse leaves a significant portion of Trump’s executive branch appointments in limbo and has sparked renewed calls by Senate Republicans to change procedural rules when lawmakers return in September.
“I think the last six months have demonstrated that this process is broken,” said Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D. “Nominations desperately need a change.”
Democrats have refused to fast-track even non-controversial appointments, denying the customary unanimous consent agreements and instead requiring full roll-call votes for each nominee — a time-consuming process that can stretch for days.
Trump, who has been urging Republicans to cancel the recess and “grind” through confirmations, lashed out after talks with Schumer broke down. In a Saturday evening post, he ordered Republicans to abandon negotiations: “Tell Schumer… to GO TO HELL! Do not accept the offer, go home and explain to your constituents what bad people the Democrats are.”
Behind the scenes, negotiations had inched forward for days as both sides worked toward a potential package deal. Democrats reportedly offered to clear a large tranche of nominees in exchange for reversing some of Trump’s foreign aid cuts, but the White House balked. After Trump’s post, GOP leaders ended talks and began leaving town.
“There were several different times we thought we had a deal,” Thune said. “In the end, we didn’t close it out.”
Schumer, D-N.Y., said the president’s outburst derailed progress. “Donald Trump tried to bully us, go around us, threaten us, call us names — but he got nothing,” Schumer told reporters.
The standoff is the latest episode in a yearslong arms race over confirmations. Senate Democrats in 2013 removed the filibuster for most judicial nominees to overcome GOP obstruction. Republicans followed suit in 2017, ending the filibuster for Supreme Court nominees to secure Justice Neil Gorsuch’s confirmation.
Now, Thune and other Republicans are considering further changes to speed up confirmations — a move Democrats warn will backfire.
“A rules change would be a huge mistake,” Schumer warned Saturday, noting that Republicans will need Democratic cooperation to pass spending bills and other priorities.
Despite bipartisan fatigue and the looming recess, Democrats refused to budge without concessions. “We have never seen nominees as flawed, as compromised, as unqualified as we have right now,” Schumer said.
The Senate will return in September, setting up what could be a pivotal debate over not just nominees, but the very rules that govern the chamber.
