Senate Republicans on Thursday changed their chamber’s rules to circumvent Democratic opposition to many of President Donald Trump’s nominations. Dubbed the “nuclear option” by politicos, the move upends one of the Upper Chamber’s norms that force bipartisan agreements before things get done.
The party-line vote on Thursday empowers Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., to approve batches of presidential nominees as opposed to considering each individually.
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“Democrats and their political base cannot deal with the fact that the American people elected President Trump,” Thune said in a Senate Floor speech Thursday. “It’s time to move. Time to quit stalling.”
Thune accused Democrats of deliberately sabotaging Trump’s nominees by slow-walking negotiations. The accusation is the latest in GOP complaints that the minority party has, for months, resorted to delay tactics to stall Trump’s nominations.
According to the Center for Presidential Transition, the average time it takes to approve a presidential nominee has increased from 49 days during Ronald Reagan’s first term to 193 days for Biden administration picks. The nonprofit estimates Trump nominees have needed an average of 161 days for confirmation despite Republicans controlling the Senate.
Democrats warn of consequences
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., denied claims of obstruction, saying his caucus was simply responding to Trump’s “historically bad nominees.”
He said Republicans would regret the rule change.
“This is a sad, regrettable day for the Senate, and I believe it won’t take very long for Republicans to wish they had not pushed the chamber further down this awful road,” he said.
‘Nuclear option’
Thune scheduled 48 nominations to be considered on Thursday, something that would have required 60 votes. Republicans then overrode Thune’s motion to reconsider after the vote failed, which creates a new rule.
The new guidelines will only apply to Trump’s non-judicial nominees.
The Washington Post reported that Thune’s batch of nominees to call include Environmental Protection Agency, Energy Department, Interior Department and Defense Department officials, as well as Callista Gingrich for ambassador to Switzerland and Kimberley Guilfoyle, who would become ambassador to Greece.
