Senate confirms 48 of Trump's nominees at once after changing the chamber's rules
apnews.com
The Senate has confirmed 48 of President Donald Trump’s nominees. Republicans acted for the first time under new rules to clear a backlog of executive branch positions that had been delayed by Democrats.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate has confirmed 48 of President Donald Trump’s nominees at once, voting for the first time under new rules to begin clearing a backlog of executive branch positions that had been delayed by Democrats.

Frustrated by the stalling tactics, Senate Republicans moved last week to make it easier to confirm large groups of lower-level, non-judicial nominations. Democrats had forced multiple votes on almost every one of Trump’s picks, infuriating the president and tying up the Senate floor.

The new rules allow Senate Republicans to move multiple nominees with a simple majority vote — a process that would have previously been blocked with just one objection. The rules don’t apply to judicial nominations or high-level Cabinet posts.

“Republicans have fixed a broken process,” Thune said ahead of the vote.

The Senate voted 51-47 to confirm the four dozen nominees. Thune said that those confirmed on Thursday had all received bipartisan votes in committee, including deputy secretaries for the Departments of Defense, Interior, Energy and others.

Among the confirmed are Jonathan Morrison, the new administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and Kimberly Guilfoyle as U.S. ambassador to Greece. Guilfoyle is a former California prosecutor and television news personality who led the fundraising for Trump’s 2020 campaign and was once engaged to Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr.

  • CharlesDarwin@lemmy.worldEnglish
    131·
    12 hours ago

    Psst. See Murc’s Law.

    in American politics, only Democrats are assumed to have agency. Republicans are like rocks rolling down hill or perhaps sharks eating seals: they do what they do because that’s just what they are, so there’s no point in holding them responsible for anything, since they could not do ottherwise.

    • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.worldEnglish
      81·
      12 hours ago

      there’s no point in holding them responsible

      Wouldn’t “holding them responsible” mean prosecuting them? Who has the power to do that?

        • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.worldEnglish
          3·
          2 hours ago

          They failed to prosecute him once he was out of office, having already acknowledged he had committed crimes during the impeachment.

          • BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today
            5·
            3 hours ago

            A REPUBLICAN AG. At a time when Republicans needed to be held responsible for the most treasonous behavior since the Civil War, they actually appointed a Republican to handle it. He then dithered and slow-walked, and gave them a two year head start to run out the clock.

            Just one more example of Democratic weakness.

            This is why I’ve been an Unaffiliated Independent since I first registered to vote in 1977.