Senate Republicans are moving toward a rules change that could fast-track President Donald Trump’s nominees, signaling frustration with what they describe as Democrats’ unprecedented obstruction, The Hill reported.
Senate Republicans are coalescing around a plan to overhaul confirmation procedures, with a special Wednesday conference meeting expected to focus on adopting what is known as the “nuclear option” to break a monthslong blockade on Trump’s executive and judicial picks.
The leading proposal would allow the chamber to approve nominees en bloc if they clear the same committee, a streamlined process modeled on a proposal floated by Democrats two years ago.
GOP leaders say the plan could be broadened to include multiple committees, enabling dozens of stalled nominations to advance in a single vote.
“Everybody has been talking through various options. … One of the things that that process does is empower the committee process,” said Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., who is heading a working group on the issue. She argued that the panel-focused approach would “make committees great again.”
The group — Britt and fellow GOP Sens. James Lankford of Oklahoma, Ted Budd of North Carolina, Eric Schmitt of Missouri, and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin — met Tuesday in the office of Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., to prepare for the larger conference discussion.
Any rule change could pass with a simple majority, allowing Republicans to act unilaterally if necessary.
Republicans have also floated other ideas, such as reducing debate time from two hours to mere minutes, cutting procedural votes, or making certain nominations nondebatable. Recess appointments remain on the table if Democrats continue to resist.
The en bloc strategy, which appears to be the front-runner, “is where the water seems to be flowing,” one Republican aide said.
The conflict over nominations has escalated since Democrats began blocking even unchallenged choices from moving forward by unanimous consent or voice vote, a break from Senate tradition.
According to Republicans, about 90% of nominations under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama were approved by such methods, compared with 65% during Trump’s first term and 57% under President Joe Biden.
“I think we’re dealing with unprecedented obstruction. It’s never been this way,” Schmitt said. “We’re ready to move forward and then, if necessary, recess appointments are always an option.”
He added, “If the Democrats are going to continue to do this obstruction out of Trump derangement syndrome, then maybe we need some medicine.”
The push follows failed efforts in late July to negotiate a bipartisan nominations package. Trump criticized Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., for demanding too much in return, with Schumer later claiming victory in the standoff.
The nuclear option would mark the latest in a series of partisan rule changes. Former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., lowered the threshold for executive branch and judicial confirmations in 2012, excluding Supreme Court nominees.
Five years later, Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., then majority leader, extended the change to include the high court. Republicans also reduced debate time for lower-level nominees from 30 hours to two hours.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.
