Senate Republicans Give Trump Another Big Win

In a single action, Senate Republicans confirmed more than 100 of President Donald Trump’s nominees, reducing the backlog of unfilled appointments.

The Senate GOP altered its regulations last month to let the majority of executive branch nominees to be approved collectively rather than individually, which led to the confirmations. Cabinet secretaries and judicial nominees are exempt from the change.

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Since the rule change went into force, this move marks the biggest block of confirmations. Former Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker, who will represent the Bahamas, and former White House Presidential Personnel Office director Sergio Gor, who will represent India, were among those authorized.

Following months of Democratic resistance that had delayed the confirmation process to a standstill, Republicans invoked the so-called “nuclear option”—a party-line rules change—to expedite it.

For a brief period, some Republicans thought about permitting President Trump to nominate people during break, which would allow him to fill positions while the Senate was not in session. But in the end, GOP leaders turned down that notion, claiming it might backfire when their party is next in the minority.

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