Top Senate Republicans are warning Democrats that unless they start helping to speed up confirmations of President Donald Trump’s nominees, there will be consequences — including a potential effort to change the chamber’s rules.
The warning shot comes as Republicans seek to confirm dozens of Trump nominees before leaving for their traditional summer break. Doing so without weeks of delay would require Democrats to cut a deal to speed up the process, and internal frustration is mounting about the overall pace of confirmations.
“This can’t continue — Democrats either have to change their behavior or we’re going to have to change other things,” Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), the No. 2 Senate Republican, said Tuesday, adding that changing rules surrounding nominations would be “part of the discussion.”
Senate Majority Leader John Thune added that “pressure is going to grow to take steps to expedite this process if the Dems don’t start playing ball soon. It’s going to start coming from every direction.”
Frustration with the pace of confirmations is hardly new — both parties have previously discussed either reducing the number of nominees who require Senate confirmation or finding ways to expedite the votes. But they’ve struggled to reach a bipartisan deal on a new rules package. Republicans could theoretically go “nuclear” and change Senate rules on their own, but they’ve stopped short of directly vowing to do that.
There are roughly 150 nominees currently awaiting action on the Senate floor. Democrats are forcing Republicans to eat up floor time to overcome procedural hurdle nominees on even mid-level picks, sparking GOP frustration over not being able to clear those nominees via unanimous consent or voice votes.
“Republicans would like to return to those golden years when there were groups of nominees considered, but we weren’t given that courtesy by them,” said Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), referring to the trickle of nominees confirmed under President Joe Biden.
“We’re kind of stuck where we are,” he added.
Even as senators air their frustrations, Thune said he is talking to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer about a potential package of nominees that could get confirmed before the extended summer break. Durbin confirmed the negotiations.
Durbin said the question for Democrats is “what’s the quid pro quo” that they would get in exchange for expediting nominees.
