Senate Goes on Recess Without Confirming Trump Nominations
WASHINGTON — The Senate adjourned on Saturday for its month-long August break without reaching an agreement on President Donald Trump’s nominees. After contentious negotiations, tension escalated when Trump took to social media to express frustration with Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, telling him to “go to hell.”
In the absence of a deal, Republicans are contemplating changes to Senate rules when they reconvene in September. The aim is to expedite confirmation processes for Trump’s nominees, as Democrats have been blocking many of them this year, requiring extensive roll call votes rather than quick, unanimous consent.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune commented, “The nomination process is broken, and there is a clear need for change.” Throughout the contentious negotiations, some suggested that the time-consuming confirmation process has become unmanageable.
Schumer has warned that altering Senate rules would be a “huge mistake.” He pointed out that Senate Republicans will require Democratic support for future spending bills and other important legislation.
In a tense standoff, both parties have increasingly obstructed each other’s nominees, a trend that has developed over the past two decades. The Senate’s rules have been changed several times to make confirmations less bipartisan.
Democrats previously passed rule changes in 2013 to remove the 60-vote requirement for confirming lower court nominees during President Barack Obama’s tenure. In 2017, Republicans did the same for Supreme Court nominees when they faced obstruction from Democrats regarding Trump’s nomination of Justice Neil Gorsuch.
Trump has been pressuring Senate Republicans to forgo the August recess in favor of hurdling through numerous confirmations that have been stalled by Democrats. While Republicans aimed for a bipartisan deal, which had almost materialized multiple times, a final agreement remained elusive.
During a rare Saturday session in the Senate, votes continued on various nominations as both parties raced to finalize a deal. However, Trump’s social media post regarding Schumer made it clear that an agreement would not be reached, prompting Senate members to pack up for their break.
Thune noted that numerous potential deals fell through. This situation marks the first time in years that the minority party has not allowed for any quick confirmations, as Thune has previously extended Senate sessions to expedite Trump’s nominees.
The possibility of forced changes to Senate rules looms as Democrats resist compromises without significant concessions on spending cuts or other issues, even as they too are eager for a break after long months of political battles.
Schumer has expressed serious concerns about the qualifications of current nominees, stating, “We have never seen nominees as flawed and unqualified as we have right now.”
