Senate goes ‘nuclear’ to confirm Trump nominees

On September 11, 2025, Senate Republicans changed the rules to break a Democratic blockade of President Trump’s nominees. The change lowered the existing 60-vote threshold for considering a group of presidential nominees to a simple majority, further eroding the filibuster. Prior to the change, there was a backlog of over 100 nominees that hadn’t yet been confirmed. Senate Democrats had demanded every position be subject to individual consideration, delaying the approval of the president’s nominees.

The rule was finalized on September 18 after a series of procedural votes that allowed the Senate to confirm an unlimited number of lower-level executive branch nominations at a time without the threat of a filibuster.

On September 15, Senate Majority Leader John Thune introduced 48 nominees, including Daniel Aronowitz to lead the Department of Labor’s (DOL) Employee Benefit Security Administration.

Other nominees confirmed included Jonathan Berry as DOL Solicitor of Labor, Andrew Rogers as DOL Wage & Hour Administrator, David Keeling to head the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Wayne Palmer to head the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), Henry Mack III as head of DOL’s Employment and Training Administration, and Julie Hocker to head the Office of Disability Employment Policy.

The Senate plans to confirm 108 nominees next, including a number of DOL nominees, as well as Brittany Panuccio as Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) Commissioner. Panuccio’s confirmation will give the EEOC its first quorum of the second Trump administration.