Thune on the Senate’s Historic Confirmation Pace

Click here to watch the video. WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) today delivered the following remarks on the Senate floor: Thune’s remarks below (as delivered): “Mr. President, I am pleased to say that the text of the continuing resolution has been released. “It is a strong, bipartisan piece of legislation, and I hope it will receive overwhelming support from both parties in the Senate. “I am deeply grateful to Appropriations Chair Collins for her work to produce this legislation in consultation with members of both parties. “And I also want to thank Senator Murray, vice-chair of the Appropriations Committee, for her efforts to get this done. “I look forward to passing this bill in the next few days. “Mr. President, this week we’ll move our fifth bloc of civilian nominees, which includes 74 well-qualified individuals. “By the end of the week, we will have cleared 95 percent of the civilian nominees who are eligible for floor consideration. “Ninety-five percent. “At this same point in President Trump’s first term, there were 155 unconfirmed nominees on the calendar. “This year that number is on track to be about 10. “It’s the best confirmation track record in a quarter-century. “As I said, we will have confirmed 95 percent of the civilian nominees available for confirmation – meaning that we’re doing better at this point than we were during President Obama’s first term, President Trump’s first term, or President Biden’s. “It didn’t always look like we’d be able to achieve this, Mr. President. “From the very beginning of his second term, Democrats met President Trump’s nominees with a historic level of obstruction. “And when I say historic, I do mean historic. “Up until extremely recently, President Trump was the only president on record – the only, the only, president on record – not to have had any civilian nominees approved by unanimous consent or voice vote. “Mr. President, that used to be the standard way of approving these nominations. “During President George H.W. Bush’s four years in office and President Clinton’s first four years, both presidents had 98 percent of their civilian nominees – 98 percent – confirmed through unanimous consent or voice vote. “President George W. Bush and President Obama both had 90 percent. “And then we get to President Trump’s first administration. “Democrats introduced an unprecedented new level of partisanship into the historically bipartisan confirmation process, forcing time-consuming votes on civilian nominees who would once have gone by unanimous consent or by voice vote. “But despite this, Mr. President, despite this new level of partisanship, both President Trump in his first term and President Biden had more than half of their nominees confirmed by unanimous consent or voice vote. “And then we get to President Trump’s current administration. “As I said, until recently, he had not had one single nominee confirmed by unanimous consent or voice vote. “Zero. “So the fact that we’re standing here today, Mr. President, with the civilian nominations calendar about to be essentially cleared, is pretty impressive. “But we’ve been on a mission, Mr. President, to ensure that the president has his nominees in place so that he can do the job the American people elected him to do. “That included taking action to restore the Senate tradition of en bloc confirmation of largely noncontroversial nominees. “And most of all, Mr. President, it included putting in the work. “Lots of work in committees. “Lots of work on the floor. “And lots of votes. “Lots and lots of votes. “And it’s paid off. “We’ve confirmed 52 Article III judges. “Ninety-one percent of the U.S. attorneys that have made it out of committee this Congress. “Twenty-three Cabinet members. “And the list goes on. “And we’re going to continue to ensure that nominees are confirmed in a timely fashion, and that the president is able to have his team in place.”