Senate GOP set to 'go nuclear,' speedrun Trump's cabinet nominees

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The Center Square) – Fed up with Democrats slow-walking the process of confirming President Donald Trump’s civilian nominees, Republicans will permanently change Senate voting rules as soon as Thursday.

Lawmakers can implement this so-called “nuclear option” by a simple majority vote. Democrats used it in 2013 to limit debate time and more easily invoke cloture on all nominees except U.S. Supreme Court appointees, while Republicans extended that to include SCOTUS nominees in 2017.

The pending GOP proposal – a near replica of a failed Democrat-sponsored proposal in 2023 – would allow all subcabinet nominees to be confirmed in groups, something senators often do anyway.

“Senate Republicans are putting back in place the very practice that Democrats had endorsed until today,” Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., told lawmakers Wednesday. “We are ending the [Senate Minority Leader Chuck] Schumer confirmation shutdown, and we are getting the Senate back to work on behalf of the American people.”

Echoing previous comments from Republican leaders, Barrasso said Democrats “have weaponized the rules of the Senate” by failing to confirm a single civilian subcabinet nominee by unanimous consent or voice vote.

“President Trump is the first president in history not to have a single nominee confirmed by voice vote or unanimous consent,” he noted. “To my Senate colleagues who participate in this blockade, let me say this: You’ve had your chance to be reasonable, you’ve had a chance to work together, work with us — you have chosen obstruction instead.”

More than eight months into Trump’s second term, Congress has approved only 135 of his civilian nominees, leaving more than half unconfirmed. 

Republicans say this unprecedented delay is hindering the vital work of the Senate. Democrats, however, argue that changing the rules will ruin the ability for the minority party to negotiate, using the nominees confirmation process as a bargaining chip

“It’s true that we put some sand in the gears on purpose,” Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, said Wednesday. “It is true that there is a big backlog. And it is actually true that Democrats helped to create it. What is different about this year is that there’s just no effort to untangle the backlog…[Republicans] have simply forgotten how to work with Democrats.”