WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate has confirmed 48 of President Donald Trump’s nominees at once, voting for the first time under new rules to begin clearing a backlog of executive branch positions that had been delayed by Democrats.

Frustrated by the stalling tactics, Senate Republicans moved last week to make it easier to confirm large groups of lower-level, non-judicial nominations. Democrats had forced multiple votes on almost every one of Trump’s picks, infuriating the president and tying up the Senate floor.

The new rules allow Senate Republicans to move multiple nominees with a simple majority vote — a process that would have previously been blocked with just one objection. The rules don’t apply to judicial nominations or high-level Cabinet posts.

“Republicans have fixed a broken process,” Thune said ahead of the vote.

The Senate voted 51-47 to confirm the four dozen nominees. Thune said that those confirmed on Thursday had all received bipartisan votes in committee, including deputy secretaries for the Departments of Defense, Interior, Energy and others.

Among the confirmed are Jonathan Morrison, the new administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and Kimberly Guilfoyle as U.S. ambassador to Greece. Guilfoyle is a former California prosecutor and television news personality who led the fundraising for Trump’s 2020 campaign and was once engaged to Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr.

  • bagsy@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    2
    ·
    7 hours ago

    It doesn’t really matter now. There won’t be any more elections, and the laws dont matter.

    • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      5
      ·
      6 hours ago

      There won’t be any more elections

      We’ve got two gubernatorial races and a whole mess of municipal races coming in November. So that remains to be seen.

      But when see front-runners for primaries coddling up to fascism all up and down the Dem slate, it does not fill me with optimism for the future.

      • bagsy@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        4
        ·
        6 hours ago

        It makes me sick. I don’t want to leave the country, but I might be leaving the country.

        • Alcoholicorn@mander.xyz
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          edit-2
          4 hours ago

          Did that almost a year ago, only thing I miss is Waffle House (I never actually liked waffle house, but having it available at 2AM was comforting) and some friends who are still working on getting out.