Amid Shutdown, Senate Plows Ahead With Nominees

Even amid partisan gridlock that has resulted in a government shutdown, the Republican-controlled Senate is plowing ahead with voting on President Donald Trump’s nominees.

On Friday, the Senate is voting to authorize the wholesale consideration of dozens of nominees. Senators enabled these en bloc authorizations with a recent rule change.

Friday’s vote would advance several important nominees, such as Stanley Woodward Jr. to be associate attorney general of the Department of Justice, which is the agency’s third-ranking position. The calendar also includes several U.S. attorneys spread across the country.

There are also many familiar names from the Trump world. 

Ex-football player and former Georgia Senate candidate Herschel Walker would become ambassador to the Bahamas with the passage of the nominee bundle.

Bill Bazzi, the Lebanese American mayor of Dearborn Heights, Michigan, who endorsed Trump in 2024 at a time when the campaign was wooing Arab American voters, would become ambassador to Tunisia. Also, Sergio Gor, another longtime Trump ally, would become ambassador to India.

The new rules change provides Republicans the opportunity to expedite the confirmation process after months of Democrats delaying the process. The change enables the Senate to confirm nominees in groups as opposed to the lengthy process of confirming them one-by-one.

Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., proposed the rules change in an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal in August, writing, “The American people elected President Trump and Republicans with a directive to get the U.S. back on track. They didn’t vote for Democratic delay and obstruction.”

The rules change was invoked on Sept. 11.