Senate confirms more Trump nominees, surpassing Biden-era confirmation pace after deploying nuclear option

The Republican-held Senate approved a third batch of nominees Thursday night, surpassing the confirmation pace from previous presidencies.

Under the leadership of Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.), the Senate confirmed 97 more nominees in a 53-43 vote. In 2025 alone, the Senate confirmed 417 of President Donald Trump’s nominees, leaving just 15 nominees on the docket.

‘It’s a pettiness that leaves desks sitting empty.’

This confirmation rate greatly outpaced former President Joe Biden, who had 365 nominees greenlit through the Senate in 2021.

This unprecedented confirmation pace came after Thune deployed the nuclear option in September to address the ballooning number of nominees awaiting their confirmations over the summer.

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Allison Robbert/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Thune allowed en bloc confirmations in September for sub-Cabinet-level positions so nominees could be confirmed in large groups as opposed to individual, tedious votes Democrats consistently tried to obstruct.

“It’s delay for delay’s sake, and it’s a pettiness that leaves desks sitting empty in agencies across the federal government and robs our duly elected president of a team to enact the agenda that the American people voted for in November,” Thune said in an op-ed for Breitbart.

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Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images

“Republicans aren’t going to tolerate this obstruction any longer,” Thune added. “We have tried to work with Democrats in good faith to batch bipartisan, noncontroversial nominees and clear them expeditiously, according to past precedent. Democrats have stood in the way at every turn.”

Editor’s note: This story was updated to clarify Thune’s decision to confirm nominees en bloc.

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