The Senate approved 48 of President Donald Trump’s nominees on Thursday, the first time Republicans used new rules designed to fast-track confirmations and ease a growing backlog of unfilled positions.
The measure passed 51 to 47, reflecting sharp partisan divisions. The new process allows for bulk confirmation of lower-level executive branch nominees with a simple majority vote, bypassing a procedure that had previously enabled Democrats to slow or block groups of appointees. The rule change does not apply to judicial appointments or top-level cabinet officials.
Republican leaders argued that the shift was necessary to counter what they described as deliberate stalling by Democrats, who have forced individual roll call votes on many of Trump’s nominees. The delays consumed floor time and frustrated the White House, which has pressed to fill more than 100 vacant positions.
Those confirmed Thursday include deputy secretaries across the Departments of Defense, Interior, and Energy, along with Jonathan Morrison as head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Kimberly Guilfoyle, a former California prosecutor and television commentator who helped lead fundraising for Trump’s 2020 campaign, was approved as ambassador to Greece.
Republican leadership framed the decision as a correction to what they saw as an obstructionist strategy by the minority party. They noted that each of the nominees had already secured bipartisan support in committee, making the extended delays unnecessary.
The move marks the latest escalation in a long-running struggle between the two parties over the pace and scope of Senate confirmations. Both Democrats and Republicans have made changes in recent years to weaken procedural hurdles, particularly the filibuster. In 2013, Democrats eliminated the 60-vote threshold for executive branch and lower-court nominees during the Obama administration, drawing sharp criticism from Republicans. Four years later, Republicans extended that change to Supreme Court nominees to secure the confirmation of Justice Neil Gorsuch.
Democrats condemned the new Republican rules as another step in eroding the Senate’s role as a check on presidential power. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said his party is resisting nominees he described as unqualified or inappropriate for key roles. He warned that Republicans may eventually regret the move, echoing remarks Republican leaders once made when Democrats altered Senate rules a decade earlier.
The procedural changes followed a summer breakdown in bipartisan talks over confirmations and a sharp exchange between Trump and Schumer, who clashed publicly over the issue. Republicans say the new process will allow them to steadily clear the backlog, with additional rounds of confirmations expected in the coming weeks.
