Senate GOP barrels past blockade to advance nearly 100 Trump nominees
In a significant move on Wednesday, Senate Republicans successfully navigated the first procedural hurdle in their effort to confirm nearly 100 of President Donald Trump’s nominees, setting the stage for a final vote expected next week. This marks the third time this year that the GOP has advanced a large bloc of Trump’s nominees, following the controversial alteration of Senate confirmation rules in September. Once this latest group is confirmed, it will push the total number of confirmed nominees during Trump’s second term to over 400, a notable achievement that surpasses the 350 nominees confirmed for former President Joe Biden by the same point in his presidency.
Among the nominees included in this package are former Representative Anthony D’Esposito, who has been nominated to serve as inspector general at the Department of Labor, and James Murphy and Scott Mayer, who are slated for positions on the National Labor Relations Board. The latter nominations come in the wake of Trump’s dismissal of NLRB member Gwynne Wilcox, a decision that was later upheld by the Supreme Court. This procedural advancement follows a previous attempt that was thwarted by Senator Michael Bennet, a Democrat from Colorado, who objected in a bid to block the nominations. The Republicans’ strategic use of the “nuclear option” to lower the confirmation threshold to a simple majority for sub-Cabinet-level positions has allowed them to circumvent the typical 60-vote filibuster, illustrating the heightened partisan tensions surrounding Trump’s appointments.
The latest confirmation attempt reflects a broader strategy by Senate Republicans to solidify their influence within the federal government, particularly in light of the contentious political landscape. The inclusion of nominees previously deemed controversial, such as Sara Carter for the Office of National Drug Control Policy, highlights the challenges Republicans face in garnering bipartisan support for their picks. This ongoing battle over appointments underscores the significant implications for governance and policy direction as both parties grapple for control in an increasingly polarized Senate. With the stakes high, the coming week will be critical as Republicans aim to solidify their gains and Democrats seek to push back against what they perceive as a rush to confirm unqualified nominees.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3M3CDsXRbQ
Senate Republicans rammed through the first procedural hurdle on their road to confirming nearly 100 of President
Donald Trump’s
nominees on Wednesday.
The move tees up a later vote on 97 of Trump’s picks and marks the third time Senate Republicans advanced a bloc of the president’s nominees since changing the confirmation rules in September.
The final vote to confirm the latest tranche of picks is expected next week. Once Republicans clear this latest package, they will have confirmed over 400 of Trump’s picks during the first year of his second term.
DEM ATTEMPT TO THWART TRUMP NOMS BACKFIRES, REPUBLICANS TEE UP NEARLY 100 FOR CONFIRMATION
That benchmark would place him well ahead of former President
Joe Biden
, who at the same point in his presidency had 350 of his nominees confirmed.
Among the
list of nominees
are former Rep. Anthony D’Esposito, R-N.Y., to serve as inspector general at the Department of Labor, and two picks for the National Labor Relations Board, James Murphy and Scott Mayer, among several others across nearly every federal agency.
SENATE CONFIRMS DOZENS OF TRUMP NOMINEES IN FIRST TEST OF NEW NUCLEAR RULES
The inclusion of Murphy and Mayer in the package comes after Trump fired National Labor Relations Board member Gwynne Wilcox, a move that was ultimately found to be legal by the
Supreme Court
earlier this year.
It’s also Senate Republicans’ second attempt to move this package after Sen.
Michael Bennet
, D-Colo., objected last week in a bid to derail the process.
Senate Republicans went nuclear and changed the rules surrounding the confirmation process in a bid to break through Senate Democrats’ monthslong blockade of Trump’s nominees and limited the scope to only sub-Cabinet-level positions that would be advanced through a simple, 50-vote majority.
SENATE GOP LEADER MOVES TO LOWER FILIBUSTER THRESHOLD FOR TRUMP NOMINEES THROUGH NUCLEAR OPTION
But one of the nominees in the original package, Sara Carter, a former Fox News contributor whose legal name is Sara Bailey, was considered a “Level 1” nominee, meaning she would hold a Cabinet-level position.
Trump tapped Carter in March to be his drug czar as director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy.
Carter’s inclusion in the package meant that if Republicans wanted to confirm the 87 other nominees and her, they would have to break the 60-vote filibuster threshold. That outcome was highly unlikely, given Senate Democrats’ near-universal disapproval of several of Trump’s picks and accusations that many were not qualified to serve in the positions they had been tapped to fill.
Senate Republicans took advantage of the opportunity, however, and moved instead to offer a new, more beefed-up package that added nine more nominees.
