Senate Republicans rally around batch votes for Trump nominees
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Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D. Photo: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
Fed up with Democratic stalling, Senate Republicans are preparing to expedite the confirmation process before their next recess.
Why it matters: Democrats "will tell you privately they know it's broken, but they can't bring themselves to fix it," Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) said Wednesday.
- Senators emerged from a conference-wide discussion Wednesday afternoon united on moving forward with en bloc confirmation votes for non-Cabinet nominees, while discussions continue about judiciary positions.
- En bloc allows batches of nominees to be voted on at the same time.
Zoom in: That's similar to a proposal introduced by Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) in 2023. But her plan capped the number of nominees in any bloc at 10.
- Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) told reporters Wednesday there would be no numerical limit in the GOP proposal.
- Barrasso suggested U.S. District Court judges may also be included in the en bloc proposal. He said it would include nominees who require two hours of debate, as opposed to higher-level positions requiring 30 hours.
- Majority Leader John Thune told reporters the conference is "still having conversations about" including judiciary nominations, saying right now the focus is largely on the executive branch.
What to watch: Other rule changes are still under consideration, senators said.
- "En-block is definitely top of the list," Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) told reporters.
- "There's some other things — further collapsing time is another possibility and there's also the recess appointments that's on the back end," he added.
Behind the scenes: Sens. Katie Britt (R-Ala.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.), John Cornyn (R-Tex.), Ted Budd (R-N.C.) and Schmitt formed a working group on the issue.
- They held calls over the August recess and have reached out to Democrats about potential rule changes.
- Britt sent a fact sheet out to senators highlighting stats showing the historically slow confirmations this year, despite a record number of session days and roll-call votes in the Senate, according to a copy obtained by Axios.
