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Senate confirms first batch of Trump nominees using ‘nuclear’ option

By Ramsey Touchberry September 18, 2025 | updated 10 hours ago

Senate Republicans approved dozens of lower-level nominees from President Donald Trump on Thursday, marking the first confirmations since the GOP-controlled chamber altered its rules to bypass Democratic opposition.

The batch cleared 51-47 in a party-line vote on 48 nominees for positions such as ambassadors and leaders of various boards and agencies.

Republicans changed the rules by implementing the so-called “nuclear option” to group an unlimited number of executive branch nominees and overcome delay tactics by Democrats, who imposed blanket holds as a means to resist Trump.

REPUBLICANS PLOW AHEAD WITH ‘NUCLEAR OPTION’ TO FAST-TRACK TRUMP NOMINEES

GOP leadership will work in the coming weeks to clear a backlog of dozens of other nominees who had advanced out of committees but were awaiting time-consuming, individual floor votes.

In an interview with the Washington Examiner earlier this month, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) said the rule change was needed because Democrats’ blockade on the nomination process prevented Trump from having his full team in place.

“I think this is a way of fulfilling his desire, and sort of dealing with the frustration he has about the way the Democrats are obstructing and blocking and keeping him from getting his people in place, but doing it in a way, I think, that it still respects the history and traditions of the Senate,” Thune said.

David Sivak contributed to this report.

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