Democrats turn routine Trump nominees into pitched partisan battles
Democrats are retaliating against President Trump’s broad assault on their most cherished policy priorities by turning the Senate’s confirmation proceedings for relatively non-controversial executive branch nominees into pitched partisan battles, forcing Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) to burn up the calendar on routine matters.
Battling over nominees isn’t new in Washington, but Senate Democrats, who are under heavy pressure from their base to show more fight against Trump, are taking obstruction to new heights by demanding more than 100 procedural votes in a row on Trump’s nominees.
Senate Democrats agreed to move directly to a vote to confirm then-Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) as secretary of State only hours after Trump was sworn in to his second term in office, but since then they have insisted on holding procedural votes to invoke cloture on the next 106 nominees who came to the floor.
The Democrats’ obstruction, which Republicans say has reached a “historic” level, is setting the stage for a grand showdown later this week, as Thune is threatening to cancel part of the August recess to keep senators in steamy Washington to grind through stalled nominees.
Republicans say the Democrats’ tactics are a significant departure from how Republicans treated President Biden’s nominees during the four years Democrats controlled the White House and Senate, when approximately 60 percent of Biden’s nominees were approved by unanimous consent.
And it’s even a striking contrast compared to Trump’s first term, Republicans say, when approximately 50 percent of Trump’s nominees were approved by unanimous consent.
“Democrats have not allowed a single civilian Trump nominee to pass by unanimous consent or voice vote — even when Democrats have ultimately ended up supporting the nomination in significant numbers,” Thune said on the floor Monday afternoon, calling it a “historic level of obstruction.”
He pointed out that Trump is the only president on record not to have a single one of his civilian nominees confirmed by unanimous consent or voice vote at this point in his presidency.
By contrast, Biden had 44 of his civilian nominees confirmed by voice vote at a similar point in his presidency.
Republicans say Democrats are setting a “dangerous precedent” by purposely dragging their feet on confirming even non-controversial nominees, hamstringing the president’s ability to get federal departments and agencies staffed up.
And they warn that the next Democratic president could get a taste of that treatment unless Senate Democrats led by Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) ease up on their tactics.
“It’s a whole new precedent, and what goes around comes around,” Thune said Monday afternoon. “There’s a lot of Trump derangement syndrome that is afflicting the other side of the aisle but if they keep this up, this is not going to end well. I just think this creates a whole new precedent.”
For example, take John Hurley, Trump’s nominee to serve as Treasury undersecretary for terrorism and financial crimes.
He was confirmed last week by a party-line vote of 51 to 47, failing to pick up a single Democratic vote despite having a sterling resumé and top-notch academic credentials.
Hurley, a managing partner at Cavalry Asset Management and managing member of TGK Ventures had been a longtime lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, a former member of Trump’s Intelligence Advisory Board and a member of the Middle East Institute’s board of governors. He also graduated from Princeton University with honors and received an MBA from Stanford.
“This is the least amount of cooperation since Herbert Hoover. Why is that? I remember supporting packages [of nominees] before recesses with the Biden administration, 40, 50, 60 nominees in one package,” said Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska).
“Why is it? We all know why. Schumer got burned during the [government funding debate.] His left wing is telling him to fight and now they’re blocking every single nom,” he said.
Sullivan said he confronted his Democratic colleagues during the votes on Hurley.
“Look at his background. I went up to all these Democrats and said, ‘You guys, come on, man. I voted for all these Biden people, most of his Cabinet. You can’t vote yes on John Hurley?’” Sullivan said.
Trump urged Thune earlier this month to “cancel August recess (and long weekends!) in order to get my incredible nominees confirmed.”
“Senate Democrats must stop obstructing the will of the American people, and the Senate must confirm President Trump’s nominees as quickly as possible,” said Liz Huston, a White House spokesperson.
Schumer on Monday defended his bare-knuckle tactics, pledging to use “every tool at our disposal” to fight back against what he called the “disastrous Donald Trump, Republican agenda.”
Democrats argue that Trump is creating dangerous new precedents by appointing Cabinet officials, such as Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who they say are dangerously unqualified and dedicated to pushing radical agendas.
And they’re furious that Trump gave Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) broad authority to furlough and lay off federal workers, shutter USAID and gain access to the Treasury Department’s sensitive payments system.
Democrats, who are struggling with low job approval ratings, are under heavy pressure from liberal voters who want congressional Democrats to grind Trump’s agenda to a halt.
Schumer was the target of scathing criticism in March after he voted for a partisan House GOP-drafted government funding bill, which he did reluctantly because he was worried that a government shutdown would give Trump and Musk too much power.
Thune is now threatening to cancel part of the August recess if Democrats “continue to drag out the process on even the most uncontroversial nominees,” warning “we can spend a lot more hours with each other in the Senate chamber.”
That’s not a happy prospect for senators who have already taken more votes in 2025 than the Senate has taken over the course of a full year for 32 of the past 36 years.
Thune canceled the traditional Presidents Day recess in February to confirm Howard Lutnick as Trump’s secretary of Commerce, Kash Patel to be FBI director and to pass a Senate budget resolution.
Democrats at times have forced votes on the routine business of moving from legislative session into executive session, a necessary step before Thune can file cloture motions to begin considering nominees.
Last week, Democrats forced a vote on the motion to proceed to executive session to consider Emil Bove, Trump’s nominee to serve on the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.
Democrats dug in their heels against Bove, citing the allegations of a Department of Justice whistleblower who said the nominee urged federal attorneys to defy court orders blocking the use of the Alien Enemies Act. Democrats earlier this month walked out of Judiciary Committee business meeting to protest Bove’s nomination.
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) accused Bove of leading the administration’s “corrupt bargain” to dismiss charges against New York Mayor Eric Adams.
But even nominees who would be considered relatively non-controversial in the past are requiring procedural setup votes and final votes split strictly along party lines to get confirmed.
Senators held 17 votes — either procedural set-up or final confirmation votes — last week on Trump nominees, burning up hours of time on the floor.
Thune warned Monday that if Democrats keep it up, the August recess will get trimmed back.
“We haven’t ruled anything. The options are on the table,” he said.