Senate Republicans are continuing their efforts to modify Senate procedures to accelerate the confirmation of groups of President Trump’s non-cabinet and judicial nominees. If all goes as planned, these nominees could be confirmed by the end of the week.
The Senate is set to vote tonight on a new “executive” resolution crafted by Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) aimed at facilitating the approval of multiple lower-level nominees simultaneously.
Thune is expected to “file cloture” to end debate on a group of 48 nominees, which he intends to confirm together later today.
Due to Senate rules, there must be a day between the cloture vote and the vote to break a filibuster on the nominees, making Wednesday a crucial day for this process.
It is unlikely that the bloc of nominees will receive the 60 votes required to overcome a filibuster.
However, Thune plans to switch his vote to the losing side and request a re-vote. This maneuver is permitted under Senate rules, allowing a senator from the “winning” side to call for another vote.
Thune will assert that the precedent should allow a simple majority to break a filibuster on such a group of nominees. Although the chair will rule against this claim, Thune’s appeal aims to establish a new precedent. If the Senate votes to overrule the chair, a simple majority will be sufficient to break the filibuster for this slate of nominees.
Once the Senate concludes its “post cloture” time on Thursday, it will finally vote to confirm this group of 48 nominees.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune is employing parliamentary tactics to set a new precedent for the confirmation of batches of lower-level Trump nominees this Wednesday.
