Senate Republicans are rallying behind a plan to confirm large groups of President Donald Trump’s nominees at once, aiming to break through an unprecedented Democratic blockade.
GOP lawmakers signaled Wednesday they are ready to consider the “nuclear option” — a rules change that would allow the Senate to approve 10 or more nominees in a single vote if they cleared committee with bipartisan support.
Republicans are also weighing ways to shorten or bypass the lengthy floor process currently required for each nomination, WGHP-TV reported.
The plan is not yet final, but Republicans are broadly moving in that direction. The conference held its weekly policy luncheon Wednesday, followed by a special meeting focused on the nominations process.
“I think everybody’s pretty united in moving forward, and actually moving forward pretty quickly,” said Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), who is part of a working group of GOP senators who have been attempting to find a remedy to the issue of Democratic resistance. “‘En bloc’ is definitely top of the list.”
“I think we’re coalescing around a proposal to be able to move a number of nominees who … either have bipartisan votes or those positions have just never been objected to like they’re being objected to, so we want to move forward,” he added, per WGHP.
The proposal builds on a plan Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) introduced two years ago that would have allowed up to 10 nominees from the same committee to be confirmed in a single vote. Republicans are considering modifications, such as raising the cap or grouping nominees from multiple committees.
Certain positions would remain off-limits for bloc consideration, including Cabinet posts. GOP lawmakers leaving Wednesday’s meeting also said judicial nominations are likely to be excluded.
“We’re not talking about judges,” Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) said, per the outlet. “But we are talking about the vast majority of the ambassadors, the vast majority of the sub-level Cabinet [nominations] who normally receive very few ‘no’ votes and, in fact in the past, have basically been voice votes before you leave for a recess.”
Republicans aim to push through a rules change by the end of the current work period, in just over two weeks. Frustrated that Democrats have used procedural tactics to stall even noncontroversial picks, GOP senators have been weighing the move for months, the outlet noted.
Talks accelerated during the August recess after Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) and the White House failed to reach a deal with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) on advancing a slate of nominees. Trump blamed Schumer for making unreasonable demands, while Schumer argued the president’s nominees warrant extra scrutiny given his record in office.
So far, the Senate has confirmed 135 civilian nominees, with only one — Secretary of State Marco Rubio — avoiding a filibuster. Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) said 145 more nominees are currently pending, with additional names expected soon as committees advance them, WGHP reported.
“It still takes a while to get through the blockade. So it would be important … to be able to batch these, which is the standard of what we used to do in the past,” Barrasso told a group of reporters this week.
Schmitt (R-Mo.) and Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.), members of the working group, said they have discussed a possible bipartisan approach with Democrats but noted few in the minority appear willing to risk the political backlash.
Even within the GOP, some concerns remain. While Republicans are focused on the en bloc option, several lawmakers warned it could backfire by prompting more nominees to clear committee on strictly partisan lines — requiring individual consideration anyway, said the outlet.
“In the past, [these types of nominees] have been voted out on a bipartisan basis, but now does that mean that you would now have the minority always voting ‘no’?” Rounds asked. “Those are some of the things we have to work out.”