Senate Republicans eye 'nuclear option' for rules change to speed up Trump nominees [View all]

Source: NBC News

Sept. 8, 2025, 5:30 PM EDT / Updated Sept. 8, 2025, 9:22 PM EDT


WASHINGTON — Republican leaders are moving closer to implementing a major change to Senate rules that would allow them to confirm scores of President Donald Trump’s nominees in batches, rather than vote on each one individually.

Republicans are making the change to speed up votes on Trump’s nominees after having complained that Democrats are slow-walking them en masse. Meanwhile, the Senate's top Democrat warned them not to “go nuclear” in service of advancing Trump’s loyalists.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., rolled out a package of 48 Trump nominees Monday that will serve as the vehicle to establish a new rule, although the process is expected to continue into next week before the rules change enables confirmation of the first bloc of nominees.

Republicans plan to use the “nuclear option,” in which the party in power can overturn standing order to set a new precedent, effectively changing the rules with a simple majority. The tool has previously been used by both parties to weaken the 60-vote filibuster rule for judges and to reduce debate time for nominees.

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/senate-republicans-nuclear-option-rules-change-trump-nominees-rcna229877

---

We went through this before but with the GOP obstructing -

Senate Democrats launch effort to bypass Tommy Tuberville's hold on military promotions

The above was a "temporary suspension of the Rules" resolution that eventually wasn't needed when Tuberville finally gave up his circus act and went home.

But in Thune's case, he apparently wants to ditch the Rule, the change which only requires a "simple majority"... and we didn't have a similar majority to do the same due to the usual 2 (who are no longer in the Senate).

Thune might make it more limited to not completely ditch the 60-votes but perhaps (as they indicate) to allow "batches", I expect for more minor appointees.