Frustrated Republicans are expected to begin as early as Monday a process to change Senate rules to allow them to quickly confirm a backlog of President Donald Trump’s nominees, according to a source familiar with the planning.
Democrats, angry at many of Trump’s policies – such as cutting foreign aid and accepting a luxury jet from Qatar – have been slow-walking his nominees for months in protest. They oppose the rule change.
Republicans will push it through using the “nuclear option,” which would allow them to change Senate rules on a majority vote, not the 67 typically required for such a change.
The move, which will allow votes on groups of nominees, en banc, instead of individually, will apply only to executive civilian nominees – not the judiciary nor Cabinet members.
There are currently 149 nominees who have been voted out of committee and are waiting for votes on the floor, with another approximately 150 nominees working through the committee pipeline, the source said.
Republicans say Democratic obstruction is at an unprecedented level now, but they used similar tactics when they were in the minority and a Democratic president was in office.
Current rules provide that after a vote to break a filibuster of a nominee is successful, two hours of debate are allotted for Democrats to speak in opposition. Republicans argue Democrats rarely use that floor time, so it ends up just being wasted time and a long slow grind to get these lower-level nominees confirmed.
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