Senators are trying to land a deal to speed up confirmation of dozens of President Donald Trump’s nominees — a final hurdle before they can leave for a weekslong break.
Majority Leader John Thune and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer are in active negotiations, and GOP senators have been reaching out to Trump to try to vibe-check him on an agreement that would allow quick confirmation for some — but not all — of his nominees.
“I’m hopeful that an agreement is within reach,” said Majority Whip John Barrasso (R-Wyo.).
The path to an agreement has had false starts, with senators believing they were close, only to have hopes of a deal quickly unravel. But senators, who were supposed to leave town on Friday until September, also believe exhaustion could help fuel possible momentum.
“I think tempers are a little short. It’s time to go home. If you were coaching this team you would probably say, guys we’re taking practice off today,” said Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.).
Schumer met with Thune on Friday night and gave him a new offer, according to a person granted anonymity to discuss private negotiations, but as of Saturday morning Democrats had not yet heard back.
The general contours of the deal that Senate leadership has been negotiating with the White House have Democrats agreeing to speed up dozens of the president’s nominees, in exchange for the administration agreeing to unfreeze some agency funding or give Democrats other policy wins.
“I think we’re set up to create a pathway for success here,” Thune said Saturday.
Trump indicated in a Truth Social post earlier this week that he wanted all of his more than 150 nominees currently awaiting Senate confirmation cleared, and that the Senate should stay in town until that is done. But GOP senators believe they’ve talked him down from that position.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a Trump ally, spoke at length with Senate Democratic staff on the floor on Saturday. After walking away he was called over to update a group of GOP colleagues and could be heard loudly explaining, “We’re close. … Thank God.”
Republicans will have a closed-door conference lunch on Saturday where leadership is expected to update their members. In addition to talking through a potential deal with Democrats, Republicans will also discuss changing the rules via the “nuclear option,” a simple majority vote, to speed up nominees.
A rules change isn’t expected to come to a head until this fall, but with senators stuck in the building and tempers running high it remains under discussion.
