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Senate Majority Leader John Thune is sending the Senate home for the week with well over 150 of President Donald Trump's nominees still awaiting confirmation and fewer than two months remaining before Democrats take control of the chamber in January.
The Senate sat on Monday and Tuesday of this week and again on Thursday, when it confirmed judicial nominee Gregory Cook, and is not scheduled to return until the week of November 16. After that it will sit for the three weeks from November 30 through December 18 — about 30 days in total before the new Congress convenes on January 3.
The backlog is large. As of early November, 156 civilian nominations were still awaiting Senate action, with 122 not yet having received a committee vote and 34 on the Senate calendar. Twenty-three judicial nominees are pending — four for the federal appeals courts and 19 for the district courts — along with nearly 100 executive branch nominees.
President Trump has pressed the Senate to move faster. On Monday he wrote on Truth Social that it was "very important for the U.S. Senate to confirm all of our pending 161 Nominations, including 25 Federal Judges." Speaking to reporters the same day, he said of Thune: "I like John Thune. I wish they could get more produced," adding that Thune is "a very fine man."
Senate Republicans agreed on Tuesday to a 54-day lame-duck push to confirm the remaining nominees, keep the government funded and pass must-do defence legislation before Democrats take over. Thune has signalled flexibility on the schedule, saying Republicans are prepared to adjust their timetables, spend more time in session and hold more votes if needed, and supporters have urged cancelling the Thanksgiving recess to create more legislative days.
The pressure on Thune has come from inside his own party as well. The House Freedom Caucus has demanded that Republican leaders remain in Washington until the agenda is completed, including confirming every nominee the President has sent to the Senate. Senator Mike Lee joined an effort to delay this week's Republican leadership elections so the conference could judge Thune on what he delivers while Republicans still hold the majority.
Thune was reelected as Senate Republican leader on Tuesday, unopposed and by acclamation, after the bid to delay the vote failed 15 to 31. He will lead the Republican conference as minority leader when the 120th Congress begins in January, after the midterm elections cost Republicans the majority in both chambers.
Any nomination not confirmed by the time the new Congress convenes will expire and have to be sent again by the President, which is why Republicans describe the lame-duck session as their last window to fill lifetime judicial seats and key administration posts.