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Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Monday he is prepared to change the chamber’s rules to fast-track confirmation of President Donald Trump’s executive branch nominees, escalating a showdown with Democrats who have blocked nearly all of Trump’s picks.
In an op-ed published on Breitbart.com, Thune accused Democrats of waging an “unprecedented blockade” and promised to begin the process of rewriting Senate rules when the chamber returns to session Monday afternoon. A final vote could come later this week.
“We must return to the Senate’s traditional confirmation process that existed before this unprecedented blockade,” Thune wrote.
The move comes after months of partisan gridlock. Since Trump took office, Democrats have forced individual roll-call votes on virtually every nominee, even those with broad bipartisan support, consuming valuable floor time and leaving dozens of government posts vacant. According to Thune, Trump is now the first president in modern history to see none of his nominees confirmed by unanimous consent or voice vote.
The stalemate has infuriated Trump, who lashed out earlier this month after bipartisan talks collapsed. “GO TO HELL!” he wrote in a social media post aimed at Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer.
Republicans say their leading proposal would allow en bloc votes on large groups of nominees when a majority of senators agree, bypassing the current system that lets a single objection drag out the process for days. The change would apply only to executive branch nominees, not lifetime judicial appointments or Cabinet-level posts, and controversial nominees could still be excluded.
If adopted quickly, GOP leaders say more than 100 Trump nominees could be confirmed by the end of the week.
The proposal echoes a plan Democrats themselves introduced two years ago when Republicans used similar tactics to stall President Joe Biden’s appointments. But Democrats now argue the GOP’s effort is a dangerous overreach.
“This plan guts the Senate’s constitutional role of advice and consent, weakens our checks and balances, and guarantees that historically bad nominees will only get worse with even less oversight,” Schumer warned.
The fight is the latest chapter in a long-running battle over Senate rules. In 2013, Democrats scrapped the 60-vote threshold for most executive branch and lower court nominees under President Barack Obama. Four years later, Republicans eliminated the filibuster for Supreme Court nominees, clearing the way for Trump’s first pick, Justice Neil Gorsuch.
Changing Senate rules again would require only a simple majority — at least 51 of the chamber’s 53 Republicans. GOP leaders believe they have the votes.
Still, Democrats say Republicans may regret the move as soon as they need bipartisan cooperation to pass spending bills and keep the government open.
