Thune Speaks Out Regarding Dems Blocking Trump Nominees

Jeremy Frankel | July 29, 2025 7:30 PM

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) spoke out against the Democrats for getting in the way of the process for confirming President Trump’s nominees.

Thune explained on the Senate floor how, despite Democrats doing their best to hold up the process by forcing procedural votes, the Senate has confirmed 107 civilian nominees over the past six months, almost double the number confirmed in that amount of time during Trump’s first term.

The Senate Democrats are waging a “historic level of obstruction,” Thune said.

Thune added that Trump is the only president on record to not have any civilian nominees confirmed by voice vote or unanimous consent at this point in his term. However, former President Biden had 44 civilian nominees confirmed by voice vote at the same point in his term.

“Democrats haven’t offered a shred of courtesy to President Trump, to the voters who elected him, or the people who have stepped up to serve our country in his administration. And so the ball is in Democrats’ court, Mr. President. They can continue to drag out the process on even the most uncontroversial nominees, and we can spend a lot more hours with each other in the Senate chamber. Or they can rein in their reflexive anti-Trump sentiment and allow some of his rank-and-file nominees to proceed by unanimous consent or voice vote, just as Republicans did when the roles were reversed. And I’d remind my colleagues about the dangerous and ugly precedent that they’re setting here. But the choice is theirs…whether it’s the slow way or the fast way, we’re getting President Trump’s nominees confirmed,” Thune said.