'All the options': GOP eyes cutting August recess to move dozens of Trump nominees stalled by Dems
Senate Republican leadership is weighing whether to cancel, or shorten, their upcoming August break following President Donald Trump's request to stay in town and finish confirming his outstanding nominees.
Over the last six months, the Senate has moved at a breakneck pace to confirm the president’s nominees all while facing resistance from Senate Democrats. So far, 96 of Trump’s nominees have been confirmed. Still, there are 136 outstanding nominations on the upper chamber’s calendar that haven’t made it over the finish line.
Year in and year out, lawmakers typically escape from the Hill for the entire month of August, either recuperating from months in Washington, D.C., or selling their legislative accomplishments to people back home.
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But Trump on Sunday called on Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., to keep lawmakers in town to finish their work on confirming his slew of outstanding nominees.
"Hopefully the very talented John Thune, fresh off our many victories over the past two weeks and, indeed, 6 months, will cancel August recess (and long weekends!), in order to get my incredible nominees confirmed," Trump said on his social media platform Truth Social. "We need them badly!!! DJT"
Thune said he had spoken with the president about the August recess issue, but did not say whether the entire break would be canceled. A senior GOP aide told Fox News Digital that discussions over shortening the August recess were already happening before Trump’s request.
"We're thinking about it," Thune said. "We want to get as many noms through the pipeline as we can. And honestly, it'd be nice to have Democrats who actually would kind of act more according to historical precedents when it comes to this."
The remaining spots that need to be filled run across nearly every facet of the federal government, including positions in the Defense Department, Environmental Protection Agency, Commerce Department and a slew of ambassadors, among others.
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Among the remaining nominees are some familiar faces from the 2024 election and beyond, including Hung Cao, who ran against Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., and was nominated as Navy undersecretary; Donald Trump Jr.'s ex-fiancee Kimberly Guilfoyle, who was tapped to be the U.S. ambassador to Greece, and former Rep. Marc Molinaro, R-N.Y., who was nominated to be Federal Transit administrator.
Thune accused Senate Democrats of being obstructionist and noted that so far, not a single nominee has been approved through the fast-track voice vote or unanimous consent processes. Indeed, every nominee has been put to a floor vote. Only Secretary of State Marco Rubio received a near unanimous, 99 to 0, vote.
Earlier this year, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., supported delaying all the president's nominees who lack unanimous support in the upper chamber, effectively triggering floor votes for each. He also used an arcane Senate procedural move to stall federal prosecutors in committee.
"This is something that we're very committed to, and we're going to be looking at all the options in the next few weeks to try and get as many of those across the finish line as we can," Thune said.