Senate delays August recess for now as Trump presses for more
confirmations
[August 02, 2025]
By MARY CLARE JALONICK
WASHINGTON (AP) — A stalemate over the pace of confirmations has delayed
the Senate’s yearly August recess, for now, as President Donald Trump
declares that his nominees “should NOT BE FORCED TO WAIT” and as
Democrats slow the process by forcing procedural votes on almost all of
Trump’s picks.
Caught in the middle, Senate Majority Leader John Thune says he will
keep the Senate in session over the weekend, at least, to hold
confirmation votes while also negotiating with Democrats to speed up
consideration of dozens of nominees. The two sides haven’t come to
agreement yet, and it’s still unclear if Trump, who has been publicly
calling on Republicans to cancel their break, would be onboard with any
bipartisan deal.
Thune said Friday he was leaving some of the negotiations to Trump and
Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.
“That’s how this is going to get resolved,” Thune said. “We’ll see where
that leads.”
Senators in both parties are eager to leave Washington for their annual
break, when many of them tour their states to talk to constituents.
Republicans in particular are eager to return home and sell the massive
tax and spending cuts package they passed in July as Democrats vow to
use it against them in the 2026 midterm elections. The House, which has
no role in the confirmation process, fled Washington a week ago.
But Trump has other plans.
“The Senate must stay in Session, taking no recess, until the entire
Executive Calendar is CLEAR!!!” Trump posted on social media Thursday
night, after a meeting with Thune at the White House. “We have to save
our Country from the Lunatic Left. Republicans, for the health and
safety of the USA, DO YOUR JOB, and confirm All Nominees.”
Thune said this week that Republicans are considering changing the
Senate's rules when they get back in September to make it easier to
quickly approve a president’s nominations — and to try and avoid a
similar stalemate in the future. Democrats have blocked more nominees
than usual this year, denying any quick unanimous consent votes and
forcing roll calls on each one, a lengthy process that takes several
days per nominee and allows for debate time.
Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said Friday that Senate GOP leadership was
“going back, drafting a specific rule for us to react to" as they try to
plot a path forward.
It’s the first time in recent history that the minority party hasn’t
allowed at least some quick confirmations. Thune has already kept the
Senate in session for more days, and with longer hours, this year to try
and confirm as many of Trump’s nominees as possible.
Democrats have little desire to give in, even though they too are eager
to skip town after several long months of work and bitter partisan
fights over legislation. Schumer has said Democrats have blocked quick
votes because, “historically bad nominees deserved historic levels of
scrutiny.”
There are more than 150 nominations on the Senate calendar, and
confirming them all would take more than a month even if the Senate does
stay in session, if Democrats draw out the process.
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Sen. Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., center, speaks during a
news conference after a policy luncheon at the Capitol Tuesday, July
29, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)
The standoff is just the latest chapter in an ever-escalating Senate
fight over nominations in the last two decades. Both parties have
increasingly used stalling tactics to delay confirmations that were
once quick, bipartisan and routine. In 2013, Democrats changed
Senate rules for lower court judicial nominees to remove the 60-vote
threshold for confirmations as Republicans blocked President Barack
Obama’s judicial nominations. In 2017, Republicans did the same for
Supreme Court nominees as Democrats tried to block Trump’s
nomination of Justice Neil Gorsuch.
Still, Thune says, the Democrats’ current delays are a “historic
level of obstruction.”
In his first year as leader, Thune has worked with Trump to quickly
confirm his Cabinet and navigated complicated internal party
dynamics to pass the tax and spending cuts package, which Trump sees
as his signature policy achievement.
Yet the president is applying increasing pressure on Thune and his
conference, trying to control the Senate's schedule and calling out
three Republican senators in social media posts this week —
including Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley,
R-Iowa, the senior-most Senate Republican who worked closely with
Trump to confirm his picks for Supreme Court in his first term.
Trump criticized Grassley for keeping with Senate tradition and
working with home state Democrats on some judicial confirmations,
saying that he got Grassley re-elected “when he was down, by a lot.”
Opening a committee hearing on Thursday, Grassley defended the
practice and added that he was “offended by what the president said,
and I’m disappointed that it would result in personal insults.”
Trump also criticized Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley for working with
Democrats on a stock trading ban for lawmakers. And in a post late
Thursday, he counseled Republicans to “vote the exact opposite” of
Senate Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Susan Collins, a moderate
who has worked with Democrats on spending bills this year and
frequently opposes Trump.
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Associated Press writer Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report.
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