"Senate Republicans have voted to change the rules to make it easier to confirm President Trump's nominees, allowing the chamber to confirm certain nominees in groups rather than by individual vote. The vote Thursday comes after months of Republican lawmakers criticizing their Democratic counterparts for dragging out the confirmation process, one of the few elements of power the minority party has in GOP-unified government."
""It's time to take steps to restore Senate precedent and codify in Senate rules what once was understood to be standard practice, and that is the Senate acting expeditiously on presidential nominations to allow a president to get his team into place," Thune said. The change applies to sub-Cabinet, ambassador and executive branch nominees. It does not apply to judicial nominees."
Senate Republicans voted to change chamber rules to permit confirmation of certain presidential nominees in grouped packages rather than individual votes. The change covers sub-Cabinet, ambassador and executive branch nominees but excludes judicial nominees. The rules effort was led by Senate Majority Leader John Thune and is expected to be finalized next week. Republicans used the new procedure to advance a package of 48 nominees. Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, opposed the change as deference to the executive branch. Over one thousand positions require Senate confirmation, and average confirmation times have risen from 49 to 193 days over the past six administrations.
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