In a dramatic and deeply partisan turn on Capitol Hill, Senate Republicans on September 18, 2025, pushed through the confirmation of 48 of President Donald Trump’s executive branch nominees in a single, marathon vote. The move marked the first real-world test of the Senate’s newly revised rules for confirmations, a set of procedural changes that have upended decades of tradition and intensified the already fierce battle over presidential appointments.
The Senate’s action, which played out after months of gridlock and political brinkmanship, came as Republicans invoked the so-called “nuclear option” to break a deadlock that had left a staggering backlog of 173 nominees awaiting confirmation. According to AP News, the vote was 51-47, falling strictly along party lines, and included a range of undersecretary and assistant secretary positions across federal agencies, as well as high-profile ambassadorships. Among those confirmed were Kimberly Guilfoyle, tapped to serve as U.S. ambassador to Greece, and Callista Gingrich, selected for the ambassadorship to Switzerland.
The procedural overhaul, which Republicans enacted just a week prior, allows the majority party to confirm multiple lower-level, non-judicial nominees in batches—known as en bloc voting—using a simple majority. Previously, any single senator could block such nominations, often leading to lengthy delays and procedural wrangling. The change does not apply to judicial nominations or Cabinet-level posts, but it represents a significant shift in how the Senate conducts its business.
Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., wasted no time in assigning blame for the backlog. On the Senate floor, he charged, “It’s Democrat obstruction. The country has never seen anything like this. Senate Democrats are freezing the Senate floor, freezing the federal government, and freezing our nation’s progress. This harms America’s safety. It hamstrings the agenda that Americans voted for.” (Fox News)
Republicans have argued that the new rules are a necessary fix to what they describe as a broken process, one that has become increasingly mired in partisan gamesmanship. “Republicans have fixed a broken process,” Senator John Thune, R-S.D., said ahead of the vote, as reported by Reuters. Thune added that all the nominees confirmed on Thursday had received bipartisan support at the committee level, including deputy secretaries for the Departments of Defense, Interior, and Energy. “There will be more to come,” Thune promised. “And we’ll ensure that President Trump’s administration is filled at a pace that looks more like those of his predecessors.”
Among the newly confirmed officials is Jonathan Morrison, now administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Kimberly Guilfoyle, a former California prosecutor and television personality who led fundraising efforts for Trump’s 2020 campaign—and who was once engaged to Donald Trump Jr.—is now set to represent the U.S. in Athens. The confirmations also included a slate of other undersecretary and assistant secretary roles, as well as ambassadorships critical to the administration’s foreign policy agenda.
The path to this moment was anything but smooth. The new rules were first floated by Republicans in early August 2025, after bipartisan negotiations over confirmations collapsed and the Senate left for a monthlong recess. The breakdown was punctuated by President Trump’s blunt message to Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer on social media, telling him to “GO TO HELL!” according to Politico. The acrimony only deepened as Democrats, under pressure from their base to resist Trump’s agenda, blocked more nominees than ever before. This aggressive posture, they insisted, was a response to what they saw as an unprecedented slate of unqualified or controversial picks.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., made it clear that Democrats would not back down. He argued that the delays were justified, saying Trump’s nominees are “historically bad” and warning Republicans that they would “come to regret” their decision to weaken Senate rules. “What Republicans have done is chip away at the Senate even more, to give Donald Trump more power and to rubber stamp whomever he wants, whenever he wants them, no questions asked,” Schumer said last week, echoing a warning once issued by GOP Leader Mitch McConnell to then-Majority Leader Harry Reid in 2013. At that time, Democrats had changed the rules to eliminate the 60-vote threshold for executive branch and lower court judicial nominees, after Republicans blocked President Barack Obama’s picks. The tables have now turned, with Republicans wielding the majority and Democrats in the minority.
The new confirmation process, while allowing for en bloc votes, is not without its own hurdles. The rules require lawmakers to jump through a series of procedural hoops, including allowing for up to 30 hours of debate, making the process time-consuming even as it speeds up the pace of confirmations. Still, Republicans see it as a necessary step to overcome what they describe as deliberate obstruction by Democrats. Typically, subcabinet-level nominees—especially those with bipartisan support—would be approved quickly, often by unanimous consent or voice vote. But Schumer and his caucus refused to allow either, causing the backlog to swell.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio stands out as the lone Trump nominee who sailed through the Senate earlier in January 2025, earning a near-unanimous vote. The rest, however, have been caught in the crossfire of partisan warfare. The new rules, say Republicans, level the playing field and ensure that the executive branch is not left understaffed because of political gamesmanship.
The broader context is hard to ignore. Both parties have, over the past dozen years, chipped away at the filibuster and other procedural hurdles in the Senate, each time arguing that the other side’s obstructionism left them no choice. Democrats first invoked the nuclear option in 2013 to speed confirmations for Obama’s nominees. Republicans followed suit in 2017 for Supreme Court picks, clearing the way for Justice Neil Gorsuch’s appointment despite Democratic opposition. Now, with the latest changes, the Senate’s tradition of extended debate and consensus-building seems further eroded, replaced by a more majoritarian, winner-take-all approach.
Looking ahead, Republicans have signaled that Thursday’s vote is just the beginning. “There will be more to come,” Thune said, noting that the party plans to confirm a second tranche of nominees in the coming weeks, gradually working through the more than 100 nominations still pending. For Democrats, the fight is far from over. Schumer and his allies warn that the latest changes will haunt Republicans the next time they find themselves in the minority, setting a precedent that could further polarize the Senate and diminish its role as a check on executive power.
As the dust settles, one thing is clear: the Senate’s approach to confirmations has changed, perhaps for good. Whether this leads to a more efficient government or a more divided Congress remains to be seen, but the stakes—for both parties and for the country—could hardly be higher.
