Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) is preparing to use the “nuclear option” to clear a logjam of Trump nominees due to unprecedented Democratic Party obstruction in the Senate.
Thune is setting the stage to use the parliamentary maneuver in order to lower the filibuster threshold for confirming large batches of lower-level presidential nominees, marking the latest use of the so-called “nuclear option” in the upper chamber’s history.
Now, Thune is expected to apply the tactic to expedite confirmation of dozens of Trump administration nominees for subcabinet and lower-level positions. Judges and cabinet secretaries would not be included.
Thune’s plan relies on the Senate’s rules of debate and the chamber’s unique procedures. On Tuesday night, he introduced a resolution to accelerate the approval of about 40 nominees grouped together. By rule, the Senate must first vote on whether to break a filibuster on that resolution. That procedural vote requires 60 yeas.
Democrats are expected to block it, leaving the tally short of the threshold. But a failed vote is precisely what Thune is aiming for.
