Thune Prepares Nuclear Option In Senate Standoff Over Trump Nominees

Senate Republicans are preparing to use the “nuclear option” against Democrats as they push to confirm President Donald Trump’s nominees.

On Monday, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., outlined a plan that would allow the GOP to change Senate rules with a simple majority vote. The change would let multiple nominees be confirmed together in groups, streamlining the process.

Among the nominees awaiting confirmation is Yehuda Kaploun, nominated to serve as the Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism.

The proposal mirrors one first floated by Democrats during the Biden administration, when they expressed frustration over delays in moving nominees through the Senate.

Now, under Trump’s second term, Republicans argue the situation has worsened. Not a single nominee has been confirmed by voice vote or unanimous consent — two methods traditionally used to speed up lower-level appointments.

Thune quoted Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who in 2022 said during a floor speech, “Regardless of the party in the White House, both sides have long agreed that a President deserves to have his or her administration in place, quickly.”

Calling the blockade “Trump derangement syndrome on steroids,” Thune said Democrats’ opposition undermines their own claims. He pointed out that some of the same nominees had already advanced out of committee with bipartisan support.

“We’ve got a crisis, and it’s time to take steps to restore Senate precedent and codify in Senate rules what was once understood to be standard practice,” Thune said. “This afternoon I will be taking the necessary procedural steps to amend the rules. It is an idea with a Democrat pedigree.”

The original Democratic bill, championed by Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., Angus King, I-Maine, and former Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., would have allowed votes on up to 10 nominees at a time, including judges and U.S. attorneys. Republicans may exceed that number but are not expected to apply the rule to judicial nominees, focusing instead on sub-cabinet roles with bipartisan committee support.

Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., told Fox News Digital the GOP is simply restoring past practices: “When the vast majority of nominees, after being scrutinized in committee, had their hearings voted out and sent to the floor. Then you know, Bush, Clinton — 99% of them by unanimous consent or by voice vote, and President Trump has had zero.”

Talks between Thune and Schumer last month failed to produce a compromise before recess, leaving Republicans determined to act.

The nuclear option has been deployed several times in recent years. In 2013, then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., reduced the threshold for executive branch nominees. In 2017, Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., did the same for Supreme Court picks. Two years later, McConnell shortened debate time for civilian nominees.

Republicans argue that reviving a Democratic proposal could pressure some Democrats to support the shift. “I really look at this like they’re forcing us to do something,” said Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan. “There’s nothing nuclear about it, in my humble opinion. And again, this is their bill, and we’ll see. It’s great to watch them squirm as they try to figure out what to do with this.”