Majority Leader | Research | The Leader Board | THE NEWSR...Skip to primary navigation Skip to content×Close THE NEWSROOMRemarks Press Releases The Leader Board Op-Eds Videos SENATE RESOURCESRepublican Senators Committees Congressional Record Congress.gov Senate Floor Webcast ABOUT LEADER THUNE×Close THE NEWSROOMRemarks Press Releases The Leader Board Op-Eds Videos SENATE RESOURCESRepublican Senators Committees Congressional Record Congress.gov Senate Floor Webcast ABOUT LEADER THUNExxsearchxMENUFacebookXInstagramFacebookXInstagramVisit Leader Thune's South Dakota Site Here THE NEWSROOMRemarks Press Releases The Leader Board Op-Eds Videos SENATE RESOURCESRepublican Senators Committees Congressional Record Congress.gov Senate Floor Webcast ABOUT LEADER THUNExxsearchxMENUHomeTHE NEWSROOMThe Leader Board09.03.25Senate Democrats’ Unprecedented Obstruction of President Trump’s Nominees Is Coming to a HeadSince the Very Beginning of President Trump’s Second Term, Senate Democrats Have Blindly Obstructed and Delayed Confirming His Nominees, Leaving Key Positions Unfilled DEMOCRATS HAVE ALWAYS BEEN CLEAR ABOUT THEIR INTENTION TO NEEDLESSLY GUM UP THE NOMINATIONS PROCESS FOR PRESIDENT TRUMP’S TEAMBefore President Trump even took office, Democrats received marching orders to politicize the nominations process: “Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) is privately pressing his senators to create fireworks when they question President-elect Trump's nominees in the coming weeks…” (Axios: Scoop: Schumer's plan to fire back at MAGA nominees – 1/8/25)After Intelligence Committee Chairman Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and Vice Chairman Mark Warner (D-Va.) called for swift confirmation of John Ratcliffe to lead the CIA on national security grounds, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) delayed his confirmation vote. Ratcliffe was eventually confirmed 74-25. (The Washington Post: Rubio confirmed as Hegseth, Ratcliffe pass key thresholds – 1/20/25; Punchbowl News’ Andrew Desiderio: post on X – 1/21/25; PN11-19: Roll Call Vote #13 – 1/23/25)Two days after President Trump took office, Democrats had already “shown that they are willing to use procedural tactics to slow other nominees even if they are destined for confirmation, including forcing time-consuming floor votes on action that is usually done by mutual agreement.” (The New York Times: Democrats Slow G.O.P. Rush to Confirm Trump Nominees – 1/22/25)“In an interview, Schumer said [Democrat] governors wanted senators to vote ‘no’ on all nominees. ‘Some of my caucus didn’t want to do that, but basically I agreed with [the governors] and said, I’m going to urge people to vote no on every nominee, and we’re going to work hard…’” (The Wall Street Journal: Democrats in Disarray as Trump Pushes Through Agenda – 2/11/25)“Safe to assume pretty much every Trump nominee has a Dem hold on them at this point. Otherwise they’d be moving through the floor a lot more quickly and without cloture votes.” (Semafor’s Burgess Everett: post on X – 5/13/25) THE RESULT OF DEMOCRATS’ BLIND OBSTRUCTION: A HISTORIC BACKLOG INCONSISTENT WITH SENATE PRECEDENTSDemocrats’ actions in stonewalling the confirmation of all civilian nominees are “a substantial change from the past and reflected a Democratic failure to recognize that Mr. Trump was the duly elected president entitled to his personnel choices.” (The New York Times: Senate Heads for a ‘Nuclear’ Showdown on Trump Nominees – 8/8/25)President Trump is still the only president on record not to have a single civilian nominee confirmed by unanimous consent or voice vote at this point in his administration. (U.S. Congress: 119th Congress Nominees – accessed 9/2/25; The Daily Caller: EXCLUSIVE: Thune Says Trump Nominees Are Being Confirmed At Rapid Pace Despite ‘Historic’ Obstruction – 6/14/25)By contrast, 98% of Presidents George H.W. Bush’s and Bill Clinton’s first-term civilian nominees, 90% of Presidents George W. Bush’s and Barack Obama’s first-term civilian nominees, 65% of President Trump’s first-term civilian nominees, and 57% of President Biden’s civilian nominees were confirmed by unanimous consent or voice vote. (U.S. Congress: President George H.W. Bush Nominations 1989-1993 – accessed 9/2/25; U.S. Congress: President Bill Clinton Nominations 1993-1996 – accessed 9/2/25; U.S. Congress: President George W. Bush Nominations 2001-2004 – accessed 9/2/25; U.S. Congress: President Barack Obama Nominations 2009-2012 – accessed 9/2/25; U.S. Congress: President Donald Trump Nominations 2017-2020 – accessed 9/2/25; U.S. Congress: President Joe Biden Nominations 2021-2024 – accessed 9/2/25)Through August of 2021, President Biden had 76 civilian nominees confirmed by voice vote – a full 51% of the total number of civilian nominees confirmed at that point in his presidency. (U.S. Congress: 117th Congress Nominees – accessed 9/2/25)Democrats have forced cloture votes on 128 (95%) of President Trump’s 135 confirmed civilian nominees. (U.S. Senate: Cloture Motions - 119th Congress – accessed 9/2/25; U.S. Congress: 119th Congress Nominees – accessed 9/2/25)Of these 128 nominees, 22 received 60 or more votes on final confirmation. (Senate Majority Leader: President Trump's Senate-Confirmed Civilian Nominees – accessed 9/2/25)By contrast, only 16% of confirmed civilian nominees through August have required cloture votes in the last four administrations. (U.S. Senate: Cloture Motions – 117th Congress – accessed 9/2/25; U.S. Congress: 117th Congress Nominees – accessed 9/2/25; U.S. Senate: Cloture Motions – 115th Congress – accessed 9/2/25: U.S. Congress: 115th Congress Nominees – accessed 9/2/25; U.S. Senate: Cloture Motions - 111th Congress – accessed 9/2/25; U.S. Congress: 111th Congress Nominees – accessed 9/2/25; U.S. Senate: Cloture Motions - 107th Congress – accessed 9/2/25; U.S. Congress: 107th Congress Nominees – accessed 9/2/25)As a result of Democrats’ obstruction, over 56% of the Senate’s 499 votes through August have pertained to nominations. (U.S. Senate: Roll Call Votes 119th Congress - 1st Session (2025) – accessed 9/2/25)(Click here to download)SENATE REPUBLICANS ARE COMMITTED TO RESTORING THE SENATE’S TRADITIONAL NOMINATIONS PROCESS“The Democrats can play ball – the way every Democrat and Republican Senate have, going back as far as we can find in the annals of history – or things are going to have to change around here. It’s as simple as that.” – Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.)“Senate Republicans are determined to confirm Mr. Trump’s qualified nominees one way or another. Republicans are considering changes to the Senate rules to end the most egregious delay tactics.” – Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso (R-Wyo.)“Republicans won’t stand by while Chuck Schumer destroys the 200 year precedent of moving civilian nominees through the Senate in a timely manner.” – Senate Republican Conference Chairman Tom Cotton (R-Ark.)“[W]e have an opportunity… to knock out this obstruction by the leader of the Democratic Party in the U.S. Senate. If we don’t… then we, in my view, are confronted with the only other choice, and that is a major rules change that acknowledges the new reality in this country.” – Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.)“A reckoning is coming, because we are going to get back—the Republicans in this Chamber are going to get back to where the Senate always was, where the Executive Calendar isn’t being utilized like this.” – Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.)PrintEmailTweetNextPreviousTHE NEWSROOMSENATE RESOURCESABOUT LEADER THUNEFacebookXInstagram
