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.
🤣 Twenty years of this shit. Twenty years of people saying “You can’t do anything in the Senate without 60 votes” back and forth at one another endlessly. Twenty. Fucking. Years. 😂
I never want to hear shit about how Clinton / Obama / Biden “tried hard” again. I never want to hear shit about “We can’t pack the courts, its unprecedented” or “This obviously qualified person is too radical to survive confirmation”. You liberals deserve what you fucking get. Damn shame the rest of us are getting dragged along behind your worthless asses.
Are you saying that the Republicans going nuclear is the left’s fault? Wow, just wow. The Republicans are destroying our government, but somehow, somehow, that’s the left’s fault. That’s like saying that every victim everywhere deserved it.
They’re saying the dems not going nuclear under Obama and Biden is the problem.
“We should have turned authoritarian before they did”, basically.
I know what they’re saying, lol. It’s Obama’s fault that the Republicans are pieces of shit.
Psst. See Murc’s Law.
in American politics, only Democrats are assumed to have agency. Republicans are like rocks rolling down hill or perhaps sharks eating seals: they do what they do because that’s just what they are, so there’s no point in holding them responsible for anything, since they could not do ottherwise.
there’s no point in holding them responsible
Wouldn’t “holding them responsible” mean prosecuting them? Who has the power to do that?
The majority. When the dems had majority, they impeached him. The republican majority let him go.
The dems appointed an AG who chose not to prosecute Trump because that would be political.
They failed to prosecute him once he was out of office, having already acknowledged he had committed crimes during the impeachment.
Republicans have been destroying our government for decades and decades and we now see the Democrats had the tools to undo the damage but never actually followed through with any of it.
Perhaps the original sin of the Obama Administration was that they never dismantled the post 9/11 surveillance state. It was almost a perfect Tolkien allegory. They had this great, terrible, and Constitutionally dubious power they inherited from the prior administration. They could choose to use it or destroy it. Unfortunately our leaders are not as noble as hobbits, so Obama chose to keep the power for himself.
Plus letting Bush and Cheney off on their war crimes so that we could “heal as a nation” certainly didnt help either. Biden, while not stating as much, did the same thing with Trump after all his illegal actions including J6, and only decided to pretend to do something a few months before the '24 election after he’d already secured the RNC nomination.
Removed by mod
Facists: Exist
DAMNED LIBRULS
???
DAMNED LIBRULS
For not taking action when they had the majorities.
Seems like a fair criticism.
Damnit we should have used the gun first!
Fair, and pointless.
It’s not pointless. If we all complain when conservatives flush the rules down the toilet and kick open Pandora’s box, then do nothing when liberals lick their corporate donors’ toes while fretting over the propriety of the tiniest changes, then the Overton window keeps moving right and we’re all fucked.
The original complaint is absolutely pointless. It’s bitching about what happened literal decades ago.
You liberals deserve what you fucking get.
It’s true, we really should just start gunning down anyone we see. All we need to start, is to behead some big government people on television. THEN we’ll get universal health care, infrastructure backing to fix the climate, and more money for schools and social programs.
Goddam, how did Clinton / Obama / Biden not see that?
I mean, I don’t think you will have to ever hear it again to be honest. We’re headed into truly uncharted waters. By spring next year it’s hard to say what of our political system will even be recognizable.
The senate structurally favors republicans. It’s to the left’s advantage for it to be slow and inefficient. Now that that’s no longer the case it just means more than ever we need a movement with autonomous power that isn’t subjugated to a system that is designed to disenfranchise us.
It doesn’t really matter now. There won’t be any more elections, and the laws dont matter.
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.
It makes me sick. I don’t want to leave the country, but I might be leaving the country.
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.
Is there a list of countries its easy for americans to move to?
It varies massively between individual and financial circumstances, but the American passport is still very strong.
More of Murc’s Law, I see.
They don’t call’m “Reactionary” for nothin
We’re maybe a week away from the enabling act
Breaking News: Three Supreme Court Justices dies under mysterious circumstances, meanwhile trump’s three Supreme Court Justice Nominees approved within 2 hours.
I wanted to reply to numerous comments, but I’ll just do it here. The people aggrieved that democrats/liberals/the left didn’t do more are not wrong for being upset, even very upset. Things are generally better for everyone, in recent history, under left-side leadership. But our representatives have been beset by corporate capture since the 80s/90s so by my estimation politics has been a performative art for my entire lifetime. Still anyone with their head above water knows you’ve got better quality of life under democrats, even if they are deceptive or corrupt.
The system needs replacement. It has been captured whole by multi-national industry, corporations, investment interests, and billionaires. It is currently being bent and corrupted to the point of no return. Even if democrats work for us, they only give us so much before bending for their donor money. I’ve always had this vague notion that for even the best intentioned, there’s only so far you can climb the ladder of politics before you refuse a bribe, or lobbying money, and they just boot your ass. Or blacklist you, or whatever, you just get locked out. I dunno how to end this, except to say that the whole world needs a massive paradigm shift, and it just doesn’t look like we gettin it.
All Politicians Are Bastards
You’re in a thread where the republicans are destroying the government into an authoritarian state and you’re saying we “need a new system.” Dude, you better show some receipts of people who have done this in the situation we’re in. Details on how this should be done.
If you’re saying communism or pure socialism (no democracy). You’ll have my go to request: Name one country that has done communism or pure socialism that has lasted more than 5 years in the history of the world.
lmao socialism and democracy aren’t exclusive, you’re thinking of capitalism and democracy. If you want an example of effective democracy in a socialist country, Cuba had just over 90% in favor of their last constitutional referendum, which enshrined LGBT rights, among other things. This required years of meetings, debate, and organizing at the local level.
You want America to be like Cuba? Do you mean the bread lines? Cuz there are government allotted bread lines.
The bread lines were caused by being under blockade by a superpower nextdoor for 70 years.
Were you under the impression they were caused by Cuba being too democratic?
nah they’re just disingenuous overall
Again, they’re not a success then.
The bread lines were caused by being under blockade by a superpower nextdoor for 70 years.
Were you under the impression they were caused by Cuba being too democratic?
Again, they’re not a success then.
Your definition of success is that the US government approves of your political system?!
That’s fucking terrifying. So 48 more cult members with no qualifications and no willingness to work with Democrats in any way.
This definitely won’t hurt Americans even more…
Yeah well I made a new rule that says they can’t do that. Your move now, senators.
The Senate is now officially playing Calvinball.
It’s been a day or two since Ive heard that term. Brings back better days.
We’re living in the Snowpiercer world with Republicans currently playing Wilford and the Democrats playing Gilliam. Even if Gilliam regains power he wouldn’t reel in the powers of the executive branch because like Wliford, he also believes in keeping the status quo.
I’m sure they’re all highly qualified appointees, too. His work at HHS and the FBI show the top talent this walking corpse attracts.
Befitting username
Guilfoyle was also married to Gavin Newsom but they don’t tell you about THAT, do they.
seems a lot less relevant
It was just amusing that they had a blurb about Guilfoyle’s dating history in the article, but didn’t mention her marriage. Anyway, I wouln’t worry. The Senate Parliamentarian will put a stop to this outrage, I’m sure! /s
It’s just not widely mentioned because she had her original face then.
Which is the distraction?
This? Or the Epstein file?Distractions within distractions baby.
How much is in the black budget? What’s it for?
“Republicans have
fixedbroken abrokenfixed process,”
