The Senate confirmed 48 of President Trump’s nominees in a single vote Thursday after Republicans invoked the “nuclear option” to bypass the 60-vote threshold for batch confirmations.
The rule change, backed unanimously by Republicans including Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, allows presidential nominees for executive branch roles to be confirmed in blocs with only two hours of debate. The measure excludes Cabinet posts and judicial appointments.
The 51-47 party-line vote advanced a slate of sub-Cabinet officials and ambassadors, including former Rep. Brandon Williams, R-N.Y., as undersecretary of energy for nuclear security, Kimberly Guilfoyle as ambassador to Greece, and Callista Gingrich as ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein.
Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said Democrats had “broken” the process by slow-walking Trump’s picks. Democrats countered that Trump’s reliance on loyalists justified additional scrutiny.
