Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Monday he will begin the procedural steps to change Senate rules so Republicans can use a simple majority to allow grouped, or "en bloc," votes to confirm a growing backlog of President Donald Trump’s nominees.
Thune framed the move as a restoration of longstanding Senate practice after months in which no nominee has been approved by voice vote or unanimous consent, methods traditionally used to speed confirmations for sub-cabinet positions. He quoted Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer’s 2022 remarks that presidents "deserve to have his or her administration in place, quickly," and argued Democrats had blocked a routine confirmations process while still allowing some nominees to advance out of committee on bipartisan votes.
Thune and other Senate Republicans say they will rely on a proposal that originated with Democrats during the Biden administration to permit grouped consideration of nominees. The earlier bill, championed by Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., Angus King, I-Maine, and former Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., would have allowed up to 10 nominees to be voted on together, including district court and U.S. attorney nominations. Republicans have signaled they may expand the cap and are more likely to limit any en bloc packages to sub-cabinet nominees that have already cleared committee with bipartisan support.
"We've got a crisis, and it's time to take steps to restore Senate precedent and codify in Senate rules what was once understood to be standard practice," Thune said, adding that the concept "is an idea with a Democrat pedigree." Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso described the move as a return to how confirmations historically operated under prior administrations, including Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, when most noncontroversial nominees were cleared by voice vote or unanimous consent.
Republicans say they acted after failing to reach an agreement with Schumer on how to move nominees before a congressional recess. Several GOP senators told reporters they hope adopting a proposal from Democrats will make it harder for opposition arguments to gain traction and could attract some support from across the aisle.
Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., said Republicans were being forced to act by Democrats' obstruction and called the procedural change "their bill," adding that it would expose Democratic discomfort with the shift. Thune and other GOP leaders did not provide a specific calendar for when a rules amendment vote might occur, saying only that they would take the necessary procedural steps to press the change.
The so-called "nuclear option" has been used several times in the last decade. In 2013, then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid employed the rule change to allow most executive branch nominees to be confirmed by simple majority. Senate Republicans later used the tactic in 2017 to reduce the threshold for Supreme Court nominees, and in 2019 GOP leaders shortened post-cloture debate time for civilian nominees. Each use fundamentally altered Senate precedent for confirming appointees.
Democrats have criticized prior Republican changes when they have occurred, and Democratic leaders are expected to oppose any new rule shift. Thune pointed to instances where Democrats had previously criticized similar tactics, noting the proposal’s origins during the Biden administration.
Republicans have said they will focus their en bloc strategy on nominees who received favorable committee votes rather than on judicial nominees, which could draw more intense opposition. Thune argued that if nominees were as objectionable as Democrats claim, those nominees would not have received bipartisan committee votes.
The move sets up a confrontation over Senate rules and the pace of confirmations that could shape the Republican-controlled chamber’s operations for the remainder of the session. Lawmakers on both sides have in the past warned that changes to precedent can have lasting consequences, but GOP leaders, frustrated by the current pace of confirmations, have said they view procedural reform as necessary to fill administration posts.
As Republicans proceed, Senate watchers will be watching whether any Democrats break with their leadership and whether changes will be limited to sub-cabinet nominees or expanded to include broader categories of appointments. Thune’s announcement makes clear the GOP is prepared to press a majority-rule solution to a backlog that party leaders say is hampering the functioning of the executive branch.