“This is of the Democrats’ making,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune said. Senate Republicans are on the brink of invoking the so-called “nuclear option” to confirm the president’s nominees.
“I’m not the hugest fan of some of the arcane rules in the Senate anyway,” Sen. Josh Hawley told NOTUS.
Thune’s going to steamroll Chuck Schumer’s blockade. Better late than never.
He might do it as soon as Monday.
Thune warned since July that Republicans would move to reform the upper chamber rules to circumvent Democrats’ nomination blockade if Schumer did not agree to speed up the confirmation process.
Schumer didn’t agree.
Thune organized a working group in August after negotiations with Democrats to clear the backlog of executive branch nominees collapsed. The cohort included Republican Sens. Katie Britt of Alabama, James Lankford of Oklahoma, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Eric Schmitt of Missouri and Ted Budd of North Carolina.
The working group decided on a plan to change Senate rules allowing for en bloc confirmations, meaning in groups, according to a senior Republican aide. The reform is based on a 2023 proposal from Democratic Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar that would have permitted up to ten nominees who have cleared the same committee to be confirmed at once.
Senate Republicans’ proposed reform, however, is likely to be more expansive by not capping the amount of nominees that could be confirmed at one time.
“Sen. Thune plans the nuclear option as soon as tomorrow.” Yeah, sure he does. Wake me when it happens.