Washington (AP) – A patient situation about the pace of the confirmations has initially delayed the annual recess of the Senate in August when President Donald Trump explains that his candidates should not be forced to wait ”and the Democrats ponderous the process by forcing the process votes over almost all tips from Trump.
The majority leader of the Senate, John Thune, said that he would keep the Senate over the weekend at least at the weekend at the meeting to hold confirmation voices and at the same time negotiate with Democrats to accelerate the examination of dozens of candidates. The two sides have not yet come up, and it is still unclear whether Trump, who publicly called up the Republicans, would be on board with a cross -party deal.
Thune said on Friday that he had some of the negotiations to Trump and minority leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y.
“This is how it is solved,” said Thune. “We will see where that leads.”
Senators of both parties endeavor to leave Washington for their annual break when many of them visit their states to speak to the voters. The Republicans in particular endeavor to return home and sell the massive tax and expenditure package adopted in July when the Democrats apply them against them in the 2026 junior elections. The house, which does not matter in the confirmation process, fled from Washington a week ago.
But Trump has other plans.
“The Senate has to stay at the session and do not take a break until the entire executive calendar is clear !!!” Trump posted on social media on Thursday evening after a meeting with Thune in the White House. “We have to save our country from the Lunatic on the left. Republicans for the health and security of the United States, do their work and confirm all candidates.”
Thune said this week that the Republicans are considering changing the rules of the Senate if they return in September to quickly approve the nominations of a president – and to try to avoid a similar patient in the future. This year, the Democrats blocked more candidates than usual, rejected all the quick unanimous declarations of consent and forced roll call calls for each individual, a lengthy process that lasts several days per candidate and enables a debate time.
Senator John Kennedy, R-La, said on Friday that the GOP leadership of the Senate “returned and designed a certain rule to which we can react” while trying to place a way forward.
It is the first time in recent history that the minority party did not allow at least some quick confirmations. Thune has kept the Senate at the session for more days and with long hours this year to confirm as many nominees from Trump as possible.
Democrats have little wish to give in, although they want to skip legislation after several long months of work and bitter partisans. Schumer said that the Democrats had blocked quick voices because “historically bad candidates deserved the historical level of investigation”.
There are more than 150 nominations in the Senate Calendar and confirm that they would all take more than a month, even if the Senate stays at the session when Democrats perform the process.
The patient situation is only the latest chapter in a constantly growing battles of the Senate for nominations in the past two decades. Both parties have increasingly used stalling tactics to delay confirmations that were once quickly, non -partisan and routinely. In 2013, the Democrats changed the rules of the Senate for the judicial officer to remove the 60-vote threshold for confirmations when the Republicans blocked President Barack Obama’s judicial nominations. In 2017, the Republicans did the same for candidates of the Supreme Court when the Democrats tried to block Trump’s nomination of Justice Neil Gorsuch.
Nevertheless, says Thune, the current delays of the Democrats are a “historical level of obstacle”.
In his first year as a leader, Thune worked with Trump to quickly confirm his cabinet and navigate complicated internal party dynamics to say goodbye to control and expenditure, which Trump sees as his signature policy.
However, the President turns an increasing pressure on Thune and his conference, tries to control the Senate’s schedule and this week three Republican senators in social media posts to call for call-out the chairman of the Senate, Chuck Grassley, R-iowa, the high-ranking Republica, who has worked closely with Trump to choose for To confirm the Supreme Court in his first term.
Trump criticized Grassley for the tradition of the Senate and the collaboration with the Democrats of the home states in some judicial confirmations and said he re -elected Grassley “when he was down”.
Grassley opened a hearing from the committee on Thursday, defended the practice and added that he was “offended what the president said, and I am disappointed that this would lead to personal insults”.
Trump also criticized Missouri’s Senator, Josh Hawley, to work with Democrats on a bonus for legislators. And in a post on Thursday, he advised Republicans, “to vote for the opposite of the Chairman of the Senate appropriation committee, Susan Collins, a moderate one who worked with Democrats this year with editions of invoices and is often opposed to Trump.
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Associated Press Writer Lisa Mascaro has contributed to this report.
