Senate Republicans cement 'nuclear option,' permanently changing voting rules

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(The Center Square) – Despite partisan opposition, Republicans officially changed how the U.S. Senate confirms civilian nominees for the executive branch in a 51-44 vote Monday. 

Senators can now choose to confirm subcabinet non-judicial nominees in large groups rather than voting on them individually, something the chamber has traditionally done anyway with under previous administrations.

The permanent change enables Republican lawmakers to bypass Democratic obstruction and finally begin clearing the backlog of President Donald Trump’s remaining nominees, starting with a bloc of 48 people. 

Under the second Trump administration, Democrats intentionally dragged out the confirmation process. Despite lawmakers reporting over half the nominees out of committee with bipartisan support, Democratic senators did not allow a single one to pass by unanimous consent or voice vote. 

This led to Congress approving only 135 of Trump’s civilian nominees by the eighth month of Trump’s second term, provoking Republicans to enact a rules change via a majority vote. They argued that the unprecedented delay had hindered the vital work of the Senate, including progress on government funding bills. 

Democrats countered that changing the rules will ruin the ability for the minority party to use the nominee confirmation process as a bargaining chip in bipartisan negotiations. The rules change is similar to a change Democrats proposed in 2023, which failed to pass. 

The Monday vote marks the third time in 15 years that the Senate has modified its voting rules. 

Democrats changed the rules in 2013 to limit debate time and axe the 60-vote requirement for all nominees except U.S. Supreme Court appointees. Republicans then expanded on those changes in 2017, cutting down on debate time for judicial nominees as well.