Senate Republicans seek en bloc confirmations for dozens of nominees

Senate Republicans moved this week to change chamber rules to speed confirmation of dozens of President Donald Trump’s lower level nominees, a step party leaders said was necessary to overcome a backlog they blame on Democratic obstruction. Accounts differ on whether the first procedural move occurred Monday or Thursday, but lawmakers on both sides acknowledged that Republicans unveiled a plan to consider blocs of nominees together and pressed ahead with votes to establish the new precedent.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a South Dakota Republican, introduced a resolution that would permit the Senate to group as many as 48 nominees for en bloc consideration, clearing the way for multiple confirmations in a single series of floor votes. Thune told colleagues on the floor that the change would not apply to Cabinet officials or Article III judicial nominees and said it was based in part on an earlier Democratic proposal. Republicans, who hold 53 seats, indicated they would use a simple majority vote to override existing precedent if necessary, a tactic known as the nuclear option.

Thune framed the maneuver as a restoration of long standing Senate practice of quickly confirming...