The U.S. Senate has rewritten one of its own guardrails, clearing a faster path for President Donald Trump’s nominees to secure high-level posts across federal agencies.
In a 53-45 vote, Republicans pushed through a rule change that allows entire slates of executive-branch appointees to be confirmed in bulk, ending the one-by-one slog that Democrats had used to slow the process. The shift trims back the minority party’s leverage, reducing opportunities for extended debate and procedural roadblocks.
Majority Leader John Thune defended the move, saying the chamber had become “a personnel department” bogged down by endless confirmation delays. Democrats, however, warned that the shortcut hands Trump even more unchecked authority. Senator Adam Schiff accused Republicans of “giving up their institutional interests” and weakening the Senate’s role as a constitutional counterweight.
The rule change does not apply to judges or Cabinet-level posts, but it could speed hundreds of agency appointments—possibly starting as soon as next week. Trump’s pick for a Federal Reserve Board seat, Stephen Miran, is already queued for a vote under the old process.
This marks the third time in a little over a decade that the Senate has clipped its own minority protections. What began in 2013 as a Democratic maneuver to break gridlock on judicial nominees, and later adopted by Republicans for Supreme Court seats, now expands into executive-branch confirmations. What was once dubbed the “nuclear option” is looking more and more like standard operating procedure.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer blasted the shift as nothing less than “a conveyor belt of unqualified nominees,” arguing it strips away another layer of oversight at a moment when Trump’s power within Washington has already grown through aggressive use of spending holds and trade authority.
The first test of this streamlined process will come soon—ushering in what could be a flood of Trump’s choices, moving through the chamber at record pace.
