Category: Senate Democrats
Senate confirms more Trump nominees, surpassing Biden-era confirmation pace after deploying nuclear option
The Republican-held Senate approved a third batch of nominees Thursday night, surpassing the confirmation pace from previous presidencies.
Under the leadership of Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.), the Senate confirmed 97 more nominees in a 53-43 vote. In 2025 alone, the Senate confirmed 417 of President Donald Trump’s nominees, leaving just 15 nominees on the docket.
‘It’s a pettiness that leaves desks sitting empty.’
This confirmation rate greatly outpaced former President Joe Biden, who had 365 nominees greenlit through the Senate in 2021.
This unprecedented confirmation pace came after Thune deployed the nuclear option in September to address the ballooning number of nominees awaiting their confirmations over the summer.
RELATED: John Thune to use Democrats’ own ‘nuclear option’ to defeat Senate confirmation blockade
Allison Robbert/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Thune changed the vote threshold in September for sub-Cabinet level positions, allowing nominees to be confirmed in large groups as opposed to individual, tedious votes Democrats consistently tried to obstruct.
“It’s delay for delay’s sake, and it’s a pettiness that leaves desks sitting empty in agencies across the federal government and robs our duly elected president of a team to enact the agenda that the American people voted for in November,” Thune said in an op-ed for Breitbart.
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Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images
“Republicans aren’t going to tolerate this obstruction any longer,” Thune added. “We have tried to work with Democrats in good faith to batch bipartisan, noncontroversial nominees and clear them expeditiously, according to past precedent. Democrats have stood in the way at every turn.”
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Here’s everything Senate Republicans accomplished while Democrats forced record-breaking shutdown
While Democrats forced the longest government shutdown in American history, Senate Republicans continued to implement President Donald Trump’s agenda.
Democrats initially shut down the government for a record-breaking 43 days in an attempt to force Republicans to negotiate on Affordable Care Act subsidies that are set to expire at the end of the year. Over 40 days into the shutdown, eight Senate Democrats eventually caved and voted with Republicans to pass the funding bill Monday night.
‘Democrats stood on the sidelines.’
Senate Democrats walked away from the shutdown with nothing to show for it except for a commitment from Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) to hold a vote on ACA subsidies. Notably, this offer was available to Democrats on day one of the shutdown.
As Democrats feigned outrage over the shutdown they started, Thune and his Republican colleagues were hard at work confirming Trump’s nominees and passing legislation with conservative wins.
RELATED: ‘Temporary crumbs’: Out-of-touch Democrat gives stunning rebuke of Trump’s ‘No Tax on Tips’ policy
Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
In the early days of the shutdown, Senate Republicans confirmed a batch of 107 of Trump’s nominees in a 51-47 party-line vote. Throughout the shutdown, the Senate also confirmed 11 nominees to serve as federal judges.
Since Trump took office in January, the Senate has confirmed 310 civilian nominations, including high-profile Cabinet members, federal judges, and ambassadors.
The Senate also passed several key pieces of legislation to advance Trump’s agenda during the shutdown while Democrats stood on the sidelines.
Photo by Kent Nishimura/Getty Images
Senate Republicans unanimously passed four Congressional Review Act resolutions aimed at addressing and even repealing former President Joe Biden’s energy policies. One resolution even secured the support of Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, who consistently voted with Republicans throughout the shutdown to reopen the government.
The National Defense Authorization Act also got the Senate’s stamp of approval, providing an additional $6 billion in addition to the $25 billion allocated in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act to boost the production for crucial munitions like F-35s and shipbuilding.
In addition to bolstering American military dominance, the NDAA “repeals or amends more than 100 provisions of statute to streamline the defense acquisition process, reduce administrative complexity, and remove outdated requirements, limitations, and other matters.”
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Out to Lunch? Sen. Tim Kaine Says He Was So Distracted by Virginia Elections That He Couldn’t Pay Attention to Shutdown Negotiations.
Sen. Tim Kaine (D.) told a reporter he wasn’t giving his full attention to shutdown negotiations before Sunday because he was so focused on the elections in his home state of Virginia.
The post Out to Lunch? Sen. Tim Kaine Says He Was So Distracted by Virginia Elections That He Couldn’t Pay Attention to Shutdown Negotiations. appeared first on .
READ: Full text of Senate’s plan to end the government shutdown
Senate Democrats emerged from a two-and-a-half-hour caucus meeting Sunday night signaling there will be enough votes in the Senate to reopen the federal government after a grueling 40-day shutdown. A group of centrist Democrats led by Sen. Angus King (Maine), an independent who caucuses with Democrats, and Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) and Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), negotiated the deal to reopen the…
Trump tells Democrats to ‘do something’ ahead of ObamaCare premiums spike
President Trump late Thursday once again slammed ObamaCare, demanding that Democrats “do something” ahead of an imminent spike in Affordable Care Act (ACA) premiums amid the federal funding impasse. “As I have said for years, OBAMACARE IS A DISASTER! Rates are going through the roof for really bad healthcare!!! Do something Democrats!!!” the president wrote…
‘National Disgrace’: Largest Federal Workers’ Union Rips Into Democrats, Demands Government Reopening
With the government shutdown nearing the one-month mark, the nation’s largest union representing federal workers, a close Democratic ally, is demanding that Democratic senators join Republicans in passing a House-approved resolution to reopen the government.
The post ‘National Disgrace’: Largest Federal Workers’ Union Rips Into Democrats, Demands Government Reopening appeared first on .
‘National Disgrace’: Largest Federal Workers’ Union Rips Into Democrats, Demands Government Reopening
With the government shutdown nearing the one-month mark, the nation’s largest union representing federal workers, a close Democratic ally, is demanding that Democratic senators join Republicans in passing a House-approved resolution to reopen the government.
The post ‘National Disgrace’: Largest Federal Workers’ Union Rips Into Democrats, Demands Government Reopening appeared first on .
