Senate GOP ready to bulldoze Dems on Trump nominees
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Senate Majority Leader John Thune speaks to reporters outside his office at the U.S. Capitol Building on July 28. Photo: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
GOP senators are fed up with Democrats' stall tactics and ready to make big moves to quickly get President Trump's nominees confirmed — eyeing everything from rule changes to recess appointments in a sweeping, closed-door discussion Tuesday.
Why it matters: Democrats have been dragging out the confirmation process for all nominees, and Senate Majority Leader John Thune has already warned senators to be ready to work into the weekend — and potentially longer into the scheduled break.
- "I think, regrettably for the Democrats, they're going to rue the day if they keep this practice up," Thune (R-S.D.) told reporters after the GOP lunch, slamming Democrats for an "unprecedented level of obstruction."
Zoom in: Senators discussed and pitched a wide range of dramatic options during a Tuesday lunch, according to several sources familiar with the discussion.
- Eliminating the cloture votes, imposing shorter time limits on debates, changing which positions require Senate confirmation, allowing more en-bloc votes for nominees and setting Trump up to make recess appointments were all raised.
- Former GOP leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.), chair of the Rules committee, and Sen. John Cornyn (Texas) both spoke in favor of making changes to the Senate's debate rules to speed up the process, multiple attendees said.
Between the lines: No decisions have been made, but multiple attendees described widespread agreement in the conference to take action now.
- "I think we're moving towards recess appointments," Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) told Axios, adding, "When you have this level of unprecedented obstruction, all options are on the table."
- Schmitt continued, referencing the required debate time, "I don't know that it'll end with recess appointments. I actually think you can see something where, why are we waiting two hours? ... Why not 10 minutes?"
- Another attendee described the conversation as a "nuke option" coming.
How it works: Changing cloture rules would only require a simple majority in the Senate, but would still take some time to get done.
- Recess appointments would require both the Senate to agree to an adjournment resolution and the House to come back from recess to cancel its scheduled pro-forma sessions.
Editor's note: This story has been updated with additional reporting.
