FROM FOX NEWS: Late Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) detonated the first Senate “nuclear option” in 2013, curbing the filibuster to confirm executive branch nominees – except for the Supreme Court.
Former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) ignited the second “nuclear option” in 2017 to confirm Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, and lower the filibuster bar for nominations to the High Court.
Now, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) is likely to detonate the parliamentary equivalent of a “suitcase nuke” later this week.
Thune will follow the playbook established by Reid and McConnell to alter the Senate precedent (not a rules change) to expedite the confirmation of lower-level nominees in groups. This plan will not include judges nor cabinet secretaries.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune has initiated a procedural move, often called the “nuclear option,” to streamline the confirmation process for approximately 40 of President Trump’s nominees.
The traditional process for confirming nominees, which can be stalled by minority party delays requiring individual votes, is no longer the path Thune is pursuing. Instead, his strategy, put into motion on September 8, 2025, involves changing Senate precedent through a series of procedural votes. This will allow the Senate to approve the nominees in a single batch, rather than requiring individual time-consuming votes for each one.
The procedural maneuver works as follows:
- A senator raises a point of order against the existing rule, which in this case, would be to require confirmation by a simple majority vote instead of overcoming a filibuster.
- When the presiding officer rules against the point of order, the majority leader appeals that ruling.
- The Senate then votes on whether to uphold the chair’s decision. By voting to overturn the ruling, the majority establishes a new precedent by a simple majority vote (51 votes).
- Once this precedent is set, Thune can then proceed with the batch confirmation of nominees under the new, simplified rules.
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