Haven't seen this discussed here, but the democrats are gumming up the presidential nomination process and trying to run out the clock on the administration as much as possible.

1300 positions require Senate confirmation. Only 109 have been confirmed. Many were voted positively out of committee months ago and can't do their official duties until confirmed.

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The backlog, Lee told The Daily Signal, not only hampers the Trump administration's work but also slows the Senate's ability to consider legislative proposals.

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https://www.dailysignal.com/2025/08/01/op-senator-warns-trump-nominee-backlog-never-get-caught-up/

I was told this was the republicans doing this. All the members are preventing the senate from going on recess, so no recess appointments can be made. Was I lied to?

Apparently so.

Hasn't this been SOP since about 2001?

GeorgiAg said:

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I don't think either party can complain about this. They both do it.

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…something something Republicrats…

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I was told this was the republicans doing this. All the members are preventing the senate from going on recess, so no recess appointments can be made. Was I lied to?

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They want to avoid recess appointments if they can because they would expire next year.

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I don't think either party can complain about this. They both do it.

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Yes and no.

There is always a spike at the end of July, first of August when a big batch gets passed through by unanimous consent. Apparently Trump is the first president where the senate has refused to do this or by voice vote and it's because its being blocked by the democrats.

There have also been intentional paperwork delays, missed deadlines, and other nefarious activities in the whole clearing process just to get to committee votes.

So while delays have been a practice, the ante has really been upped to an unprecedented level.

So while some degree of this has become normal, it's a different game now.

Ghost of Andrew Eaton said:

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Hasn't this been SOP since about 2001?

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Not exactly. Both Bush 43 and Obama had almost all of their nominees confirmed by roll call vote in the Senate. With Trump, it dropped to 65% and for Biden it was 57%. The overall rate of confirmations significantly slowed for Trump's first term and Mitch McConnell returned to favor on Biden. Now we are stuck with a tit for tat trying to slow the confirmation process to a crawl.

https://ourpublicservice.org/performance-measures/political-appointee-tracker/

What is happening is unprecedented. As of last week, 1 federal judge nominee had been confirmed and 0 US attorney nominees had been confirmed. 7 months in.

Ulysses90 said:

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Ghost of Andrew Eaton said:

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Hasn't this been SOP since about 2001?

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Not exactly. Both Bush 43 and Obama had almost all of their nominees confirmed by roll call vote in the Senate. With Trump, it dropped to 65% and for Biden it was 57%. The overall rate of confirmations significantly slowed for Trump's first term and Mitch McConnell returned to favor on Biden. Now we are stuck with a tit for tat trying to slow the confirmation process to a crawl.

https://ourpublicservice.org/performance-measures/political-appointee-tracker/

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But but but it was started by the evil Republicans!!!!

Serious question.

I know that there is not really anything Trump can do with the judges.

But, can Trump hire his nominees into interim positions that are not officially the position requiring confirmation until they are voted up or down?

Or, hire someone who is even more of a fire-brand and put them in charge (but not officially) until the confirmation?

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But, can Trump hire his nominees into interim positions that are not officially the position requiring confirmation until they are voted up or down?

Or, hire someone who is even more of a fire-brand and put them in charge (but not officially) until the confirmation?

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They can be advisors, but not perform official duties (make decisions, sign off on things, hold themselves out to be on that role)

Full disclosure - I'm married to one of those fire-brands.

Ulysses90 said:

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Ghost of Andrew Eaton said:

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Hasn't this been SOP since about 2001?

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Not exactly. Both Bush 43 and Obama had almost all of their nominees confirmed by roll call vote in the Senate. With Trump, it dropped to 65% and for Biden it was 57%. The overall rate of confirmations significantly slowed for Trump's first term and Mitch McConnell returned to favor on Biden. Now we are stuck with a tit for tat trying to slow the confirmation process to a crawl.

https://ourpublicservice.org/performance-measures/political-appointee-tracker/

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But you guys there's no difference because both parties do it.

techno-ag said:

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Ag with kids said:

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Ulysses90 said:

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Ghost of Andrew Eaton said:

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Hasn't this been SOP since about 2001?

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Not exactly. Both Bush 43 and Obama had almost all of their nominees confirmed by roll call vote in the Senate. With Trump, it dropped to 65% and for Biden it was 57%. The overall rate of confirmations significantly slowed for Trump's first term and Mitch McConnell returned to favor on Biden. Now we are stuck with a tit for tat trying to slow the confirmation process to a crawl.

https://ourpublicservice.org/performance-measures/political-appointee-tracker/

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But but but it was started by the evil Republicans!!!!

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tbis illustration could be used in just about every argument between conservatives and liberals.

democrats are hypocrites of all of their ****ty qualities tbis is one that i despise the most.

Congress is so ****ed up! The people voted in a president. The president gets to make confirmations. It's congress' job to approve or disapprove (for good cause) the nominations. That's their ****ing job! Quit being obstructionist and do the will of the people.
Get better ideas and maybe your side will win next time.

It's absolutely not a comparison. Schumer has denied any voice votes, insisting on 3-day roll call for all nominees that come up, per ridiculous senate rules. It's simple obstruction, over and over.

The Senate’s 150-nominee backlog proves Democrats’ obstruction isn’t about “scrutiny”—it’s sabotage. Trump’s admin has ZERO voice vote confirmations vs Biden’s 49 by this point. Irony: Schumer calls nominees “historic” while creating historic gridlock.

Democrats demand…

— White House Xray (@xray_media) August 1, 2025

50:1 is not 'well, both sides do it.'

Liberals lie and "concerned moderates" equivocate. It's what they do.

Soft coup rolls on …

I remember when that **** Thune said they'd go to recess appointments if needed to get these all through

That guy was so FOS.

Trump will likely start playing hardball with the Senate, refusing to sign legislation they want or something until they confirm his nominees.

Can also be used in the primaries. "This guy obstructed important agendas by holding up critical appointments." etc.

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I remember when that **** Thune said they'd go to recess appointments if needed to get these all through

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Recess appointments aren't the sledgehammer people think. They expire at the end of the senate term and ultimately have to go back through the confirmation process, where they can just get held up again.

It would be far better to do this the way it has traditionally been done with a combination of unanimous consent and voice votes.

But for many democrats, the fact that Trump appointed them is a disqualifying factor. Look at the votes out of committee. I haven't looked at all of them, but the ones I have seen are straight party line votes. There is no "I don't agree with you politically but your qualifications and character are acceptable, so I will vote yes." It's simply, Trump wants you so you must be bad.