GOP uses ‘nuclear option’ to confirm 48 sub-Cabinet Trump nominees

The Senate on Thursday approved forty-eight of President Donald Trump’s executive branch nominees in one en bloc vote, the first use of the so-called nuclear option to break the long-running confirmation stalemate, reports NBC News. The party-line tally, 51–47, swept through a slate of sub-Cabinet officials and ambassadors, following a separate 53–45 vote to change Senate rules and permit block confirmations with a simple majority.

Among those confirmed: former Rep. Brandon Williams, R‑NY, as undersecretary of energy for nuclear security; former Fox News personality Kimberly Guilfoyle as ambassador to Greece; and Callista Gingrich, spouse of the former House speaker, as ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein. The list covers lower-level posts subject to two hours of debate, not Cabinet secretaries or judges.

Republicans, led by Majority Leader John Thune, R‑SD, argued that Democrats’ holds and refusals to grant unanimous consent had rendered routine confirmations unworkable. “This is a broken process,” Thune said ahead of the votes. The rules change, adopted with a simple majority and backed by moderates Susan Collins, R‑Maine, and Lisa Murkowski, R‑Alaska, allows unlimited bloc votes while permitting GOP senators to object to individual names for removal.

Democrats countered that Trump’s reliance on loyalists warranted added scrutiny. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D‑NY, called the move a regrettable step that further weakens minority power and predicted Republicans would come to rue it.

The shift continues a 12‑year pattern of procedural escalation that has chipped away at the Senate’s consensus ethos. Practically, it accelerates staffing for agencies and missions—diplomatic and otherwise—by compressing floor time on non-Cabinet nominees. Politically, it entrenches majority control over confirmations and narrows incentives for cross-party dealmaking, especially on ambassadorships and deputy roles.