Senate Majority Leader John Thune is staring down a confirmation backlog of more than 130 nominees — with President Donald Trump pressing hard for progress this week. Democrats could theoretically help expedite a pre-recess flurry of confirmations, but without more details from Republicans, they are so far holding out.
“There are some that are bipartisan — like, Tim Kaine and I have a great Eastern District of Virginia [U.S.] attorney nominee,” Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) told POLITICO on Monday evening. “But [Republicans] also should go and release some of the funds that have already been appropriated that they and [Russ] Vought are holding on to. There has to be some exchange.”
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) managed to get her own deal during a committee vote last week. The Trump administration committed to distributing $75 million in “lifesaving” global assistance in exchange for the Foreign Relations ranking member’s vote to advance Mike Waltz’s U.N. ambassador nomination.
Thune’s hoping to strike a deal to fast-track dozens of confirmations through a mix of roll call votes, voice votes and/or unanimous consent requests. But Democrats could force him to file cloture on each nominee, which would in turn force Thune to keep the Senate in session into the weekend — and potentially beyond.
Democratic leaders are keeping all options on the table as they await a proposal from Republicans, one person granted anonymity to discuss private deliberations told POLITICO. Some Democratic senators like Brian Schatz of Hawaii and Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin aren’t ruling out confirming a tranche of Trump nominees — though they say it depends who they are.
Other Democrats are opposed to any dealmaking at all: “Just to try to help them advance getting more people in office?” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) told POLITICO. “Why would we do that?”
The unspoken truth: Many Democratic senators want to start their summer break just as badly as their Republican colleagues do.
What else we’re watching:
— Appropriations status: The wheels could be coming off Thune’s plans to assemble an initial “minibus” of fiscal 2026 spending bills. Thune acknowledged to POLITICO that he is still