Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) said on Monday that he is open to President Trump’s call to cancel the August recess as part of the GOP’s push to quickly confirm his nominees.
Thune told reporters that he was considering the move, alleging Democrats broke precedent by not allowing the expeditious confirmation of any of Trump’s nominees.
“We’re thinking about it. We want to get as many [nominations] through the pipeline as we can,” Thune said at the Capitol, adding that it would be “nice to have” Democrats “act more according to historical precedents when it comes to this.”
“Trump’s the first president in history that hasn’t had a [nomination] adopted by this point in his presidency either by unanimous consent or voice. Not a single one,” Thune continued. “Trying to get his team in place is something that we’re very committed to and we’re going to be looking at all the options in the next few weeks to try and get as many of those across the finish line as we can.”
In addition to nominations, the South Dakota Republican said government funding and the annual National Defense Authorization Act would top the to-do list if members are kept in town.
Thune also said he and Trump have discussed the idea.
Trump on Saturday urged the GOP leader to keep senators in Washington.
“Hopefully the very talented John Thune, fresh off our many victories over the past two weeks and, indeed, 6 months, will cancel August recess (and long weekends!), in order to get my incredible nominees confirmed,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “We need them badly!!!”
Republicans have scores of nominees waiting to get the green light for confirmation, including via the Foreign Relations Committee. GOP leaders have also started to move judicial nominees to the floor.
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