Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., announced Sept. 8 that he is filing a resolution to accelerate confirmations of President Donald Trump’s nominees, accusing Democrats of unprecedented obstruction.
On the floor Sept. 8, Thune introduced a resolution to allow en bloc consideration of sub-Cabinet nominees, after Democrats repeatedly forced roll-call votes on noncontroversial picks, he said.
Democrats have destroyed Senate precedent, and we’re going to fix it.@SenateGOP will ensure that in the future, duly elected presidents are able to get their teams in places without unnecessary delay so that they can fulfill their responsibilities to the American people. pic.twitter.com/wYw7l2XNjd
— Leader John Thune (@LeaderJohnThune) September 8, 2025
“We’ve got a crisis, and it’s time to take steps to restore Senate precedent and codify in the Senate rules what was once understood to be standard practice,” Thune said, “and that is the Senate acting expeditiously on presidential nominations to allow a president to get his team into place.”
Thune contrasted Trump’s second term with prior administrations. He noted that George W. Bush and Barack Obama saw roughly 90% of their civilian nominees confirmed by voice vote or unanimous consent, while both Trump’s first term and Joe Biden’s administration exceeded 50%. In 2025 so far, he said, Trump has had none.
An initial procedural vote on the resolution is expected to take place Sept. 11, with final action likely next week, followed by a first block of nominees, The Hill reported.
In a Sept. 8 Breitbart column, Thune expanded on his push, writing that Democrats have made Trump “the first president on record to not have a single nominee confirmed via voice vote or unanimous consent.”
Thune wrote that his plan mirrors an earlier proposal from Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Angus King, D-Maine, to confirm nominees in groups. His version is narrower, applying only to sub-Cabinet officials and excluding judicial nominees, he said on the floor.
“This total obstruction simply cannot be the standard moving forward — both in principle and in practicality,” the Senate Majority Leader wrote in the Breitbart report. “We must return to the Senate’s traditional confirmation process that existed before this unprecedented blockade.”
At the current pace of Senate confirmations, Thune warned, “the administration would have hundreds of vacancies remaining by the time President Trump’s term ends.”
“I refuse to accept that reality,” he wrote. “It is far past time that the president’s nominees receive confirmation votes from the Senate — and this Senate Republican majority will take steps this week to make it happen.”