The Biggest Hindrance To Confirming Trump’s Nominees Is John Thune
Shawn Fleetwood
Senate Majority Leader John Thune wants GOP voters to believe that Senate Republicans have no ability to speed up confirmation of the more than 140 Trump nominees languishing in the upper chamber. But that isn’t entirely true.
After returning from Congress’s month-long August vacation, Thune took to the Senate floor on Tuesday to pin the blame for the continued confirmation delay of the president’s appointees squarely on the shoulders of Senate Democrats. Verbally wagging his finger at his leftist colleagues, the majority leader said that “their historic obstruction cannot continue.”
“All it takes is a little behavioral change and a willingness to acknowledge President Trump won an election, the American people voted for him, and they expect him to be able to populate his administration with the people that he wants to serve in many of these positions,” Thune said. “The Democrats can play ball — the way every Democrat and Republican Senate have, going back as far as we can find in the annals of history — or things are going to have to change around here. It’s as simple as that. And the ball, I would say, Mr. President, is in the Democrats’ court.”
Except, the ball is not in Democrats’ court — it’s in Thune’s. Contrary to his persistent narrative about Democrat obstruction, the Senate majority leader has always possessed the power to hold the upper chamber in session until confirmation of Trump’s nominees are complete.
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https://thefederalist.com/2025/09/03/the-biggest-hindrance-to-confirming-trumps-nominees-is-john-thune/
