Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., is met by reporters as he walks to his office while Congress works on a government funding solution, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., speaks to members of the media after attending a policy luncheon with Democratic leaders, Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Sen. Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., center, speaks during a news conference after a policy luncheon at the Capitol, Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., is met by reporters as he walks to his office while Congress works on a government funding solution, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025.
WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥 The Senate has confirmed 48 of President Donald Trump鈥檚 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鈥檚 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 鈥 a process that would have previously been blocked with just one objection. The rules don鈥檛 apply to judicial nominations or high-level Cabinet posts.
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鈥淩epublicans have fixed a broken process,鈥 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鈥檚 2020 campaign and was once engaged to Trump鈥檚 son, Donald Trump Jr.
move is the latest salvo after a dozen years of gradual changes by both parties to weaken the filibuster and make the nominations process more partisan. Both parties have obstructed each other鈥檚 nominees for years, and senators in both parties have advocated for speeding up the process when they are in the majority.
Republicans first proposed changing the rules in early August, when the Senate left for a monthlong recess after a and Trump told Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer to 鈥淕O TO HELL!鈥 on social media.
Democrats have blocked more nominees than ever before as they have struggled to find ways to oppose Trump and the GOP-dominated Congress, and as their voters have pushed them to fight Republicans at every turn. It鈥檚 the first time in recent history that the minority party hasn鈥檛 allowed at least some quick confirmations.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer has said Democrats are delaying the nominations because Trump鈥檚 nominees are 鈥渉istorically bad.鈥 And he told Republicans that they will 鈥渃ome to regret鈥 their action 鈥 echoing a similar warning from GOP Leader Mitch McConnell to then-Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., in 2013, when Democrats for executive branch and lower court judicial nominees to remove the 60-vote threshold for confirmations. At the time, Republicans were blocking President Barack Obama鈥檚 picks.
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Republicans took the Senate majority a year later, and McConnell eventually in 2017 as Democrats tried to block Trump鈥檚 nomination of Justice Neil Gorsuch.
鈥淲hat Republicans have done is chip away at the Senate even more, to give Donald Trump more power and to rubber stamp whomever he wants, whenever he wants them, no questions asked,鈥 Schumer said last week.
Republicans will move to confirm a second tranche of nominees in the coming weeks, gradually clearing the list of more than 100 nominations that have been pending for months.
鈥淭here will be more to come,鈥 Thune said Thursday. 鈥淎nd we鈥檒l ensure that President Trump鈥檚 administration is filled at a pace that looks more like those of his predecessors.鈥
