By Jasmine Li

WASHINGTON -- Senate Republicans invoked the so-called nuclear option to fast-track confirmation of the Trump administration's subcabinet nominees, after negotiations with Democrats broke down.

GOP senators voted, 53-45, Thursday to set a new chamber rule that allows group confirmations of certain executive branch nominees, a move they say is necessary to combat Democratic obstruction. Past standoffs had already whittled down the minority party's ability to block nominees.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R., S.D.) used a legislative procedure that allows a simple majority to override Senate rules and set a new precedent. Republicans hold a 53-47 majority in the Senate.

The change followed months of Senate Democrats blocking the use of voice votes or unanimous consent to confirm nominees, forcing Republicans to formally vote on each nominee individually. Speaking on the Senate floor Thursday, Thune said every president before Trump had a majority of their nominees confirmed by voice vote or unanimous consent. He said the Senate would have to cast another 600 votes to work through the backlog of nominees.

"Do you guys like the fact that we're a personnel department? That the Senate spends two-thirds of its time on nominees?" he asked.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) said the "historically bad" nominees deserved more scrutiny.

Thune is now pushing to confirm a group of 48 civilian nominees at once, mostly for undersecretary, assistant secretary or foreign ambassador positions. The list includes Callista Gingrich for ambassador to Switzerland and Lichtenstein, Kimberly Guilfoyle for ambassador to Greece and Jessica Kramer for assistant administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.

Before Congress's August recess, Schumer and Thune were in talks with the White House to allow quick confirmation of some nominees, in exchange for the Trump administration releasing some frozen funds. No deal was struck.

In 2013, then-Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) used the nuclear option to lower the cloture vote threshold for judicial nominees to a simple majority, rather than 60 votes. Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) went nuclear in 2017 to expand the change to Supreme Court nominees, allowing Republicans to quickly confirm Justice Neil Gorsuch with a simple majority.

"I warn my Republican colleagues: They will come to regret this move, because what goes around comes around," Schumer said on the Senate floor earlier this week. "They may not like being on the receiving end of the changes they bring to bear this week."

Write to Jasmine Li at jasmine.li@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 11, 2025 17:50 ET (21:50 GMT)

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