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Senate Republicans on Thursday approved 48 of President Donald Trump’s nominees, one week after altering chamber rules to speed up confirmations over Democratic objections.
“Republicans have fixed a broken process and restored the Senate precedent that applied to previous presidents — and that is allowing … a majority of a president’s nominees to be confirmed expeditiously,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune said on the floor.
“Today is the first slate of nominees. There will be more to come,” he said. “And we’ll ensure that President Trump’s administration is filled at a pace that looks more like those of his predecessors,” he added.
The confirmed nominees include Jonathan Morrison, who will lead the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and Kimberly Guilfoyle as U.S. ambassador to Greece. Guilfoyle, a former California prosecutor and television commentator, previously directed fundraising for Trump’s 2020 campaign.
Thune said the chamber will continue working through more of Trump’s nominees. “And we’ll ensure that President Trump’s administration is filled at a pace that looks more like those of his predecessors,” he said.
Earlier this year, the Senate became stalled on numerous nominees as Democrats relied on procedural tactics to slow the confirmation process. Republican leaders said they preferred to avoid relying on a partisan maneuver but were unable to reach an agreement.
Last week, GOP senators turned to what is known as the nuclear option, a rule change that allows the chamber to approve groups of lower-level, non-judicial nominees with a simple majority vote rather than leaving them vulnerable to individual objections from Democrats.
The first round of confirmations included nominees for mid-level executive branch jobs and ambassadorships, according to Politico. The group was approved in a 51-47 vote along party lines.
The change does not extend to judicial nominees, who must continue to be considered one at a time. About 125 nominees remain pending before the Senate, with votes anticipated in the coming weeks.