'This Is A Historic Level Of Obstruction': John Thune Slams Democrats For Opposing Trump Nominees

During remarks on the Senate floor Monday, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) spoke about Democratic opposition to President Trump's nominees.

Transcript

00:00Mr. President, I know that August is approaching, but we still have some serious work to do

00:06here in Washington. We need to make further progress on appropriations. And we have a

00:11number of President Trump's nominations to get through. Mr. President, despite a historic

00:17level of obstruction from Democrats, Senate Republicans have been maintaining a brisk

00:22pace on confirming President Trump's nominees. We've confirmed 107 civilian nominees, nearly

00:28doubling the pace in President Trump's first administration at this point. And we've

00:33done it with good old-fashioned hard work. Thanks in substantial part to our commitment

00:39to getting President Trump's team in place, the Senate has taken 437 votes so far this

00:44year, which is more than in any Congress at this point in the last 35-plus years. In

00:53fact, we've taken more votes in 2025 already in less than 7 months than the Senate has taken

01:02in a full 12 months for 32 of the past 36 years. So we've kept up a very intense pace. But there

01:12are a number of nominees still waiting for confirmation. And we're going to get through a lot more of

01:18them soon. And so we can do this the easy way or the hard way, Mr. President. And that's

01:24really up to the Senate Democrats. As I said, we've confirmed President Trump's civilian

01:29nominees at nearly double the pace of his first administration so far through a lot of hours

01:34spent here in the Senate. But we would have a lot more nominees confirmed at this point

01:39if Democrats hadn't decided to drag out every nomination. Democrats have not allowed a single

01:47civilian Trump nominee to pass by unanimous consent or voice vote, even when Democrats

01:53have ultimately ended up supporting the nomination in significant numbers. I refer to this, Mr.

02:00President, as a historic level of obstruction. And I mean it. President Trump is the only President

02:09on record, the only President on record, to not have a single one of his civilian nominees

02:17confirmed by unanimous consent or voice vote at this point in his Presidency. The only President

02:27on record. Just to offer a point of comparison here, by this point in his Presidency, President

02:34Biden had 44 civilian nominees confirmed by voice vote. President Trump hasn't had one. 44 for

02:48Biden. Zero for President Trump. And so when I say this is a historic level of obstruction from

02:55Democrats, I mean it. That's not a Republican talking point. It's just a fact. Democrats haven't

03:05offered a shred of courtesy to President Trump, to the voters who elected him, or the people

03:10who have stepped up to serve our country and his administration. And so the ball is in Democrats'

03:16court, Mr. President. They can continue to drag out the process on even the most uncontroversial

03:22nominees, and we can spend a lot more hours with each other in the Senate chamber. Or they can

03:29rein in their reflexive anti-Trump sentiment and allow some of his rank-and-file nominees to proceed

03:36by unanimous consent or voice vote, just as Republicans did when the roles were reversed. And I'd remind my

03:46colleagues about the dangerous and ugly precedent that they're setting here. But the choice is

03:55theirs. But whether it's the slow way or the fast way, we're getting President Trump's nominees

04:02confirmed. Mr. President, I yield the floor, and I suggest the office of a quorum.

04:08The clerk will call the roll. Ms. Alsobrooks.