Senate Majority Leader John Thune, facing a big backlog of unconfirmed judicial and executive branch nominees, is asking Senate Democrats to help confirm President Donald Trump’s less controversial picks in a legislative package.
“I do think there at least some of my colleagues, Democrats, on the other side of the aisle, who would like to maintain the kind of courtesy on nominations that prevailed in the Senate before this year,” Thune, R-S.D., said on the Senate floor Thursday.
Thune criticized Senate Democrats for not allowing a single civilian nominee to be confirmed by either voice vote or unanimous consent—a major departure from previous administrations. Civilian nominees are distinct from military nominees, and include judges, ambassadors, and other appointees of the administration.
Until now, there hasn’t been any administration in the 21st century in which a majority of civilian nominees have not been confirmed by voice vote or unanimous consent.
“Democrats have dragged out the confirmation process and denied President Trump the courtesy that Republicans and Democrats alike in the past have extended to previous presidents,” said Thune, who is keeping the Senate in session into August in accordance with Trump’s request.
Thune’s proposal is to package together noncontroversial Trump nominees in order to expedite the confirmation process, but that will require Democrat approval in order to reach the 60-vote threshold needed to end debate.
“I’m hoping, really hoping, that those more pragmatic Democrats will prevail and pave the way for us to work together for the next few days to approve a nominations package,” the South Dakotan said, adding:
We have a lot of bipartisan nominees who are available for consideration right now, and we should be able to quickly approve their nominations.
He then suggested it would be a long August if Democrats don’t play ball.
“Otherwise, we’re going to be spending a whole lot more time here on the Senate floor,” he said.
